a cup of tea,

I'm sure, Mr

llilee pleased w

arm

back," he suggested. "You forget the lady who fainted. So

ey might hear you upstairs. The fainting lady is upstairs. All th

aster), as the proverbial cat trifles with the terror of the captive mouse. The man of the bald head and the servile smile

might have tried in vain to discover a hair that was out of place. Miss Minerva's eager sallow face, so lean, and so hard, and so long, looked, by contrast, as if it wanted some sort of discreet covering thrown over some part of it. Her coarse black hair projected like a penthouse over her bushy black eyebrows and her keen black eyes. Oh, dear me (as they said in the servants' hall), she would never be married - so yellow and so learned, so ugly and so poor! And yet, if mystery is interesting, this was an interesting woman. The people about her felt an

he playfully provocative tone, with infinite tact, exactly at the right moment. "Just imagine," she resumed, "a scene on the sta

ruth. Say it's in a novel - and you are a fool if you believe it. Say it's in a newspaper - and you are a fool if you doubt it. Mr. Le Frank, following the general example, followed it on this occasion a little too unr

was the first smelling-bottle produced; hers was the presence of mind which suggested a horizontal position. 'Help the heart,' she said; 'don't impede it.' The whole theory of fainting fit

believer, even yet. "You don

d the shock. What the effort must have cost her you will presently understand. Our interesting young lady was accompanied by a hideous old foreign woman who completely lost her head. She smacked her hands distracte

," said Mr. Le Fr

ithout notice. Perhaps she was not a

'I am Mrs. Gallilee:' that was all she said. The result"- Miss Minerva paused, and pointed to the ceiling; "the result is up there. Our charming guest was on the sofa, and the hideous old nurse was fanning her, when I had the honour of seeing them just now. No, Mr. Le Frank! I

adviser of the family - one Mr. Null. A cautious guess in th

of music," the

c," the govern

ll," Mr. Le Fr

(like the cat with the mouse

t the moment when Miss Minerva overwhelmed him with the climax of her story, a little, rosy, elderly gentleman, with a round face, a sweet sm

hen that sweet young creature was brought home. Sadly in want of quiet, poor thing - not in want of us. Mrs. Gallilee and Ovid, so clever and attentive, were just the right people in the right place. So I put on my hat - I'm always available, Mr. Le Frank; I have the great advantage of

mild in tone: in short, as Mr. Le Frank once professionally remarked, a soft falsetto. When the good gentleman paused to make his little effort of memory

of the large round eyes that we see in pictures, and the sweet manners and perfect principles that we read of in books. She called everybody "dear;" she knew to a nicety h

ia, "the pastry-cook's name w

. This was a curiously slow, quaint, self-contained child; the image of her father, with an occasional reflection of his smile; incurably stupid, or incurably perverse - the friends

id Mr. Gallilee. "What d

lilee's stumpy red hand, and held hard by it as if that was the one way

them," she said; "I d

etest readiness. "Dear Zoe,

heese-cakes," he said. "We tried cream-ice, and then we tried water-ice. The children, Miss Minerva, preferred the cream-ice. An

ively invited sympathy and agreement from any person within his reach - from a total stranger quite as readily as from an intimate friend. Mr. Le Frank, representing the present Court of Social Appe

Le Frank, for interrupting you - but it is really a little too hard on Me. I am held responsible for the health of these girls; I am blamed over and over again, wh

er," Mr. Gall

nerva persisted; "the girls will have no appetite for the last m

eir hats, and give them something nice for supper. They inherit my stomach, Miss Minerva - an

ny circumstances. Miss Minerva took off the hats in stern silence. Even "Papa" might have seen

, he gently pushed the interests of a friend who was giving a concert next week. "We poor artists have our faults, my dear sir; but we are all earnest in helping each other. My friend sang for nothing at my concert. Don't suppose for a

alone, he perceived that the happy time had arrived for leaving the room. How was he to make his exit? He prided himself on his

isn't a pint of champagne nice drinking, this hot weather? Just cooled with ice - I don't know whether you feel the weather, Mi

entiment into the bargain. "I do love you, dear papa!" said this perfect daughter - with a loo

is youngest child. "Well

lee. "Does your head itch, my dear?" he asked. The idea was new to Zo. She brightened, and looked at her father with a sly smile. "Why do you do it?" Miss

aid the governess the compliment of reverti

heering view. Do you think there would be any impropriety in my calling to thank him? Perhaps it would be better if I wrote, and enclosed two tickets for my friend's concert? To tell you the t

erva looked at her watch. "Prepare y

ed in endless perplexity were crumpled by weary fingers, and stained by frequent tears. Oh, fatal knowledge! merc

mysterious question of Ovid's presence at the concert. She raised her k

t to herself, "what th