Beatrice.

and a wealthy middle-aged manufacturer , who fancied himself in love with her . He met the gay gipsy at a croquet party , and " incontinently , " as Twamley remarked , became a " victim "to that " dangerous party ! " But in vain were anxious looks and " wreathed smiles" ; in vain were little attentions and great admiration ; in vain open praise and half-suppressed sighs ; in vain bouquets and bon-bons . Jane Morley would have none of him , and I . fancy Twamley seemed a little more " serene " - himself when all this rubbish he termed it

" , " as , was over , and the forlorn manufacturer had returned to his " mungo " and his " shoddy . " Let us hope that he will find a congenial partner to share the wealth and home of his father—Jedediah Longbotham , ( for that was his euphonious name ) . ' And then as if the god of Love would never he quiet , he took it into his head to wound Molesey of Molesey , in what Mr . Angelo Cyrus Bantam ' s footman called a " tender pint . " All of a sudden he devoted himself to

Agnes Miller , but , like Jane Morley , equally that gay " damsel" would not even " look at him , " as Twamley put it . Whether she and young Merewether had found that theirs were congenial tastes and congenial temperaments matters not in any way ; hut clear it was , to an old campaigner like myself , that they seemed to have a good deal in common , and to like to be in each other ' s company . I think we may take it for granted , as an axiom , te it in love , be it lin what

or simpy people term " platonic friendship , " whatever that may be , that when two persons are thrown a good deal together , and " cotton , " as they say greatly , and like propinquity and juxtaposition , they are pretty sure eventually to come together . It does not always so happen—indeed it wo uld not always do if it did so happen , —but still , as young Pottleton puts it , the '' odds are in favour of ' its so coming round the corner . " I may observe here , that young Pottleton , like most of our new generation , not evenforgetting our legislators and statesmen , affects "Newmarket "; and a good deal ' of his common conversation is based on the vernacular ol that classic heath I

And unless we have lost all " sentiment , " unless we are the dullest of the dull , and the most uninterested of the uninteresting , we surely have a little tender spot still in our memory , a little bit of romance in our own common-place history . With Goethe we may fairly say , _ " ich habe gelebt and gelieht , " as to-day we summon up before us a fairy form , a laughing ' visage of the past , which still seems to smile on us graciously and joyously and approvingly as of yore ! The writer of this tale was once thrown a good deal togetherin other daysak : !

, , now a long time ago , with Matilda Mummery , and a right jolly girl she was . Indeed , I once thought that it was " all as good as settled , " the more so as Matilda said so touchingly , " she liked the country , " and was " contented" with a " pony carriage . " But that old maiden aunt of hers would interfere , and prudent seniors discovered that we had not enough to U VQ upon ; and then , yes , oh ! then , it all suddenly came to an end . Matilda , my own Matilda , whose lock of hair , glove , and minature , I still have by carefull

me , y put away in lavender and rose leaves , married a fat squire , who sleeps the greater part of his time , and your own poor chronicler—well , yes!—he found promiscuously that angelic being , whose voice he knows so well , and who has been the delight of his eyes , and the charm of his being , etc ., etc ., etc ., ever since . Perhaps some of my readers may say , why this is a genuine bit of romance , and in this unsentimental—though sensational—age , it . is worth a great deal ! Be it so . I am not ashamed of ithut merel

; y mention it to prove that , if like Master Shallow , I may have Had my "lawsuits , " I have also , like Tracy Tnpnian , had an " affair du cceur . " Molesey of Molesey , like a good many other persons we all know , well , was a very careful and far-seeing man , and as he did not succeed he did not care , to be supposed to have failed , and so he made light of it , called it a " good joke , " and a " pleasant little bit of flirtation" but nothing in it ' honour dear fellow

, " , pon , my . " I always doubt and dislike a man who thus speaks . In the first place , it is not complimentary to the lady ; in the next place , it is not complimentary to himself ; and , kstly , it is not true . 1 ^? d ° those tencler preludes mean nothing ? Have all those soft speeches ami gentle glances , and " sotto voce" remarks brought nothing about ? j Forbid the