Her death happened at a time when I had gone into the country for the benefit of my health; and I had the melancholy satisfaction of being with her when she breathed her last. Her husband had been ordered abroad about two months before the event, which she survived only five weeks. I promised her to be a mother to her child. I brought the baby home to my father's house when I returned-brought her up carefullyand, when old enough, sent her to school; and, as you know, when my father died and I went to live in Ireland, she accompanied me, and, in fact, has never left me since.'

"Your kindness has been remarkable,' said Philip, making a sort of sniff with his nose, which sounded more significant than genteel.

Is it not natural, then,' said his aunt, 'that, meaning to leave everything I have to those most dear to me, I should wish you, who have a natural claim upon me, to unite yourself to her to whom I am so much attached? Thus

the amount of what I leave would be jointly

yours, and I should see you settled and happy before I quitted this transitory life.'

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Nobody would venture to impugn your kind intentions,' said the Lieutenant; 'all I presume to complain of is my not having been earlier made acquainted with them-her father——”

“Oh,' said Philip's aunt, her father never returned to England. He died in the West Indies in half a year after his departure.'

"And is Miss Maloney now here?' said Philip, who saw lying about the room, harpstrings, and colour-boxes, and work-boxes, and odd volumes of novels, a song or two, some netting, and knotting, and knitting needles, and sundry other similar indications of the presence of a young accomplished female.

"To be sure she is,' said the aunt; I only wanted to put you au fait before I introduced you to her—here is her picture, and an excellent likeness too.'

66

Philip looked at the miniature which she proffered, and beheld a countenance full of ani

mated expression, with a pair of eloquent eyes, and a witching smile upon the lips, which, taken in conjunction with a figure that, as far as it went in the picture, was perfectly symmetrical, instantly superseded the less classical beauties of the deserted Fanny Wells in the mind of the Lieutenant.

"Gad,' said the Lieutenant, this is very lovely, though! But I tell you what, auntdon't suppose I mean to flatter you—but upon my life there is something in the expression of the mouth that reminds me very much of you.' "ME!' exclaimed the Aunt: what a no

tion! Compare me, at forty-one, with that blooming creature of nineteen! Philip, Philip, Philip, you are dreaming. No, no! I never was so handsome as that. No, she takes after her father more than after her mother.'

"Millicent, my dear Philip,' said the Aunt. “'I never know,' said Philip, how to pronounce that name.'

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Why,' said the aunt, who was a wag in her

line, in the present case you may pronounce

it either way

'You may call her Millicent on account of her money, Or Mellecent, because she's as sweet as honey.

There's for you!'

"I am delighted to see you in such spirits,

Aunt,' said the Lieutenant;

am I to be presented?'

now tell me when

"As soon as you have dressed for dinner,' said the Aunt. • First impressions go a great and I want her to like you at once.'

way,

"As for myself, if I had been there I should speedily have abandoned all hopes of success by a coup de main. Merman was decidedly no beauty, and if he were destined to win a heart it must be by the exercise of that most perilous of all man's members, the tongue: however, the Lieutenant did not think so, and, accordingly, acting upon the suggestion of his worthy relation, who had proved herself so much attached to him, and so careful of his interests, bestowed a double share of pains upon the completion of his toilette.

"Miss Pennefather-or, as she was beginning to call herself, Mrs. Pennefather-dined early— five o'clock-and in the summer a drive or a stroll in the cool of the evening was the order of the day. As it was, and while stern winter bound fair Nature in his icy chains, Millicent would endeavour to make the fire-side agreeable-she would sing to him-for she sang divinely.

She would

shew him her drawings, for she drew beautifully,

and then at some more genial season when—

"The sun had chased the mountain snow,

And kindly loosed the frozen soil,"

she would stroll with him by the banks of the beautiful river which rolled its silver tide under the terrace at the end of the flower-garden, and point out to him the beauties of the verdant valley which lay at their feet. All this, it must be confessed, was well calculated to eradicate from his memory the less showy qualifications of my poor sister-in-law, and teach him to forget the humbler laurel walks of hospitable Blissfold.

"Within a few minutes of five, the Lieutenant paraded himself in the drawing-room of Mrs.