romantic little soul, and was morbidly fearful of not being wooed for her sweet self; so she had pledged me to secrecy as to which of us two was the rich Marian Neville, and as there was no one to enlighten the world but Uncle James, and as his dislike of fortunehunters ranked next to his dislike of, and contempt for, our sex, he did not attempt to discourage the notion that gained ground in the neighbourhood that the tall, handsome, high-spirited Miss Neville was the fortunate heiress We had never been separated but once, and that once was when she left us to spend a fortnight with a married school-fellow of ours in Lincolnshire. I had caught cold and could not go at the last moment; but I insisted on her doing so, and how I afterwards regretted that visit was ever paid! but for that she might never have known Mr. Warburton. I don't say that he was not just the sort of man a girl like her would make a hero of, especially if he laid himself out to please her, as I am very sorry to say he afterwards laid himself out to please me. I can't deny his good looks either; they were patent to all. He fancied, and, I think, people fancied, that he bore a striking resemblance to the Crown Prince of Germany, and, I believe, he used to cut his hair and grow his moustache after those of that august model. Oh, why did that dear, good-natured, round-faced, blue-eyed, stalwart Harvey Prescott invite such a wolf in sheep's clothing to stay indefinately at Prescott Grange? Did his slight acquaintance with him warrant such a blunder, as I must call it? And then he was so blind as not even to see that May was all sparkle, and animation, and coquetry, when that provokingly good-looking Mr. Warburton was present. Before Harvey brought him to our house I suspected, from many little hints and half confessions dropped by May, how matters stood between them. He had laid siege to her tender little heart from the first moment of their meeting, and though nothing of a definite nature had been actually said by him, he had yet implied unutterable devotion. She was as sure of his affection as though he had actually and positively declared himself; and it was with unbounded delight that she heard of his intended visit to the Prescotts. me. Knowing all this, great was my indignation and astonishment at finding the whole battery of his attentions turned exclusively on It was on me, and not on May, that he bestowed his tender glances, his low, whispered words, his hand pressures, his outspoken admiration; and May, with all a woman's injustice, laid the blame of her lover's fickleness at my door, quite ignoring the the probability of his having heard in the neighbourhood of my heiress-ship. I never for one moment attributed the change in him to aught else. I had heard that he was very impecunious, though of good family; and thought doubtless that he was in search of an heiress, that he wanted to marry money-many people do; it's usual, if not chivalrous. Still I could not forgive him for making a shuttlecock of May's heart, and winning her love when he supposed her to be rich, only to throw it aside so coolly when he imagined himself to have been mistaken. Neither could I excuse the insult to her as well as to me-in his thus openly seeking me under the eyes of her he had so recently sought. I therefore, forbore to set him right, feeling it would be doing a wrong instead of a kindness to May, and to that honest Harvey Prescott who so loved her, though silently and humbly as yet. But to return to Uncle James. He was always very kind to us provided we did not run counter to any of his hobbies--and he had many. These rules in case of fire were his last. They were written out in a large text hand on cardboard, and were hung up in a conspicuous place all over the house, from kitchen to attics. "I am surprised at your taking them down," he continued. "Have the goodness, my dear, to put them where you found them." And he placed himself on the hearth-rug, with his back to the fire, looking very combattive. His blue eyes sparkling with irritation, his white hair standing very erect, and his weather-beaten old face looking additionally rosy, from the combined effects of the wind, the fire, and the heat of his argument. "I'll put them up again," persisted I, "before dinner, as soon as our rehearsal is over," and I drew the skirt of my pink cashmere away from too close contact with his boots, which were not guiltless of mud, and gently smoothed the brown fur with which it was trimmed. "We expect Mr. Prescott and Mr. Warburton every minute -don't we, May ?-Will you be prompter, uncle, I asked, by way of compliment, though devoutly hoping he would refuse. "It's our first rehearsal, and I'm afraid we don't any of us half know our part as yet.' It's "Thank you, no, my dear; I'm too old for such nonsense. very well for you young people; but in my young days young ladies had something else to do than act plays." May was comfortably ensconced in a low chair, bending forward to con her part by the fire-light, her eyes bent down to the book resting on her knees. 66 "Such devotion as yours deserves an adequate reward,'" she murmured. My happiness, I feel, will be secure in your hands. Such devotion as yours'—. Oh, Marian, I can't get this bit by heart," she exclaimed; " you take the book, dear, and let me try. I'm sure I shall never know it." "Rubbish!" cried Uncle James, contemptuously. "Can't you find anything better to learn than that; in my days Shakespeare was thought good enough." "Shakespeare is quite beyond us," cried May, laughing; "this little comedy is almost too much for me. You are responsible if I break down, Marian," she added, giving me the book. It was very well for her to say that, but I knew well enough whose pursuasions it was that had induced May to undertake the part of "Lady Alice" in the clever and original comedy of "Two Strings to my Bow;" she wanted to play Juliet to Mr. Warren Warburton's Romeo. 66 "Perhaps it may fall through, after all," I said. Certainly, we don't seem to find any one to take the part of my haughty father. I have written to Mr. Prescott to scour the country for a suitable parent for me, so we must wait and see what he says about it when he comes." A ring at the door-bell informed us that the actors had arrived, and the next moment three gentlemen entered the drawing-room. I seized the poker, not as a weapon of defence against the advances of the new-comers, but with a view of making the wood blaze up brightly, that I might sce what the stranger was like. "Have you brought me a father, Mr. Prescott ?" I exclaimed, and the next moment I was sorry for the remark, for the blazing wood threw a flickering light over the room, and over the face of the stranger-for it was at him I looked; and instead of a young Oxford man I had expected Mr. Prescott would have captured from that seat of learning, I saw a staid-looking, middle-aged man, with a short yellow moustache, a full face, tall, and round-shouldered, and wearing his left arm in a sling. The stranger laughed a pleasant laugh, quite the pleasantest I had ever heard, as he said, advancing to my side, with quiet selfpossession, “I believe I am brought here for that purpose; and I willingly place myself at your disposal, Miss Neville. I hope I shall not be compelled to treat my daughter with undue severity, or to blight her matrimonial prospects," and the kindest pair of eyes in the world scanned my face in the flickering light. "Miss Neville," cried Harvey Prescott, as old Anthony brought in the lamp and placed it on the table, "you will find Major Gunthorpe a great acquisition; I met him quite by chance this morning; he is staying with a brother of his at Oxford; he is one of the Ashantee heroes, so you must make much of him; his name will look very well in the programme. Uncle James now came forward, and shook hands cordially with Major Gunthorpe before beating a retreat, remarking that he should only be in the way if he stayed, and we should probably get on better without him. Rehearsal begun very tamely at first. Major Gunthorpe read his part from his book, and I, being his only and much-loved daughter, was ever by his side, and received much paternal patting from him, which soon caused us to be on surprisingly good terms with each other, considering the shortness of our acquaintance; and when, at the close of the last scene, I had to sink fainting in his arms, on the discovery of my lover's treachery, and he had to exclaim, "From henceforth, my child, we will be all in all to each other; I will remove you far from this traitor's path," he glanced so beautifully at the traitor-Warren Warburton-and looked so tenderly down on me, sobbing on his breast, that Harvey Prescott exclaimed enthusiastically, "Bravo! Gunthorpe. Didn't I say you would do it first-rate; you are the best father I ever knew.” His only answer was a quiet smile at me, which made me somehow feel rather conscious. Mr. Warburton was certainly not at his best this evening. His lot was to make alternate love to " Lady Alice" and "Rose"May and myself. I watched him closely, and noticed how listlessly and mechanically he said his love speeches to her, while she, with her cheeks flushed, and a vibration in her musical voice, told too plainly at least, to me that she was not acting at all, but was TILA hoped that she would notice the difference very much in earnest. I of his manners towards us both as I felt and noticed it; and at last ARY. I think she did, and some one else also-one new recruit, or after After this terribly compromising behaviour on the part of Mr. Warburton, Major Gunthorpe, from being actively pleasant towards me, became merely passively so, giving me up to him in every little way he could in a most provoking manner. I felt inclined to upset and extinguish Mr. Warburton to the best of my power, but then I reflected that I should be doing May a service, and a great one, if I could help her to the knowledge of the kind of man she was letting her tender little heart grow fond of, before, by any mischance, he should come to learn that she, and not I, possessed what he was in search of-money; besides, Harvey Prescott seemed so happy and contented if allowed to be near her, taking what I knew was only good-natured friendship on her part for the feeling that existed on his; and thinking, moreover, as I did, that by-and-bye YORK she might favourably contrast the worthlessness of the one with the worth of the other, and so allow herself to be consoled. I determined that she should be disenchanted as soon as possible if it depended on me, at the risk of my being reckoned a flirt by—well, everybody. "Have you met Mr. Warburton ?" I presently asked of Major Gunthorpe, finding that there seemed to be little or no cordiality between them; "he is reckoned a very good actor." He looked at me quietly, as if meditating on the motive of my question, and then answered slowly "I suppose he is a good actor; he seems to understand his part very well. well. Perhaps he has practiced it a good deal." "Not with me," I answered quickly; "this is the first rehearsal we have had." I was unaccountably anxious to disabuse his mind of the impression that was evidently taking root there, respecting myself and Mr. Warburton; but I fancy that I failed in this, for he only said, drily— "If that is the case it does him great credit; but I am hardly a competent man to pass judgment on his merits, as I confess the little I know of him has not prejudiced me in his favour. But pardon me," he added lightly, "I ought to find something more agreeable to say to you. Ought I not?" "I have not had a moment to congratulate you," said a soft, small voice at my elbow. "My dear Miss Neville, I am charmed with your vivacity and espieglerie. I was prepared for much, but not so much real talent as yon have displayed this evening." A rebuff almost sprung to my lips at this ill-timed flattery, but instead of which I bestowed upon him a pleasant smile, and said meekly, "I hope your praise is not satire in disguise, for I am afraid I hardly played up to you." 66 'That will come in time," he murmured, bending over me; "I dare not hope for more as yet." "We are not acting now, Mr. Warburton," I said, annoyed that Major Gunthorpe should have moved away in so marked a manner. "Indeed we are not, dear Miss Neville," he replied. "I never was more in earnest in my life; never so desirous to please, and never so far from succeeding I fear. His handsome face was very close to mine, far too close I thought, as he stood smiling with the conscious air of a favoured lover, stroking his moustache with one hand, and idly playing with a locket attached to his watch-chain with the other. I felt we were making a ridiculous tableau, and that Major Gunthorpe thought as much. So I laughed a little mocking laugh, pausing before crossing the room to where May and Harvey Prescott were standing, to |