"Oh dear me--aw--I couldn't possibly; besides--aw--Mrs. Herbert, I don't think--aw--I ever saw a handsomer girl in my life--aw--than Miss Armstrong; but now I don't mind telling you, she's so clever--aw--that I'm half afraid to speak to her." "Ah, well, you can get better acquainted with her this morning during your ride; she is perfectly at home on horseback, and a fearless rider." "I believe that Miss Armstrong is clever in everything that she does," replied the young officer, with another firm tug at his whiskers. The appearance of the young lady in equestrian attire, and the announcement that the horses were at the door, aroused the young man to offer his assistance. He escorted Mary to the entrance, and was ready and eager to be allowed to mount her; but he got so confused, and appeared so awkward about the matter, that Mary felt afraid to place her foot in his hand, and said quickly, "Thank you very much, Captain Fraser, but I am so used to be mounted by my uncle, pray do not trouble yourself to help me." He drew back instantly to give place to Colonel Herbert, and looked so intensely miserable that Mary's kind heart pitied him, and she determined during her ride to endeavour by her attention to him to restore his self-appreciation. But Mary made very little progress towards the completion of her object. She addressed her conversation almost entirely to him while walking their horses; she tried various topics, but none proved of any interest until a friend whom they met admired Mary's beautiful grey mare, who pranced, and tossed her head, and curved her sleek neck as if she knew that she carried her young mistress, and considered herself and her rider the most attractive objects in the Park. This notice of Daisy by the colonel's friend loosened Captain Fraser's tongue, and for the remainder of the ride he entertained his companion with descriptions of the turf, and advice about the treatment of horses, which to Mary were as incomprehensible as if uttered in Sanscrit. But this subject, so familiar to the young officer, set him at his ease, and by the time he reached home the shy awkwardness of the morning had quite disappeared. When he joined them in the evening, Mary, whom he had taken down to dinner, found his loquacity almost as painful to endure as his shyness. The long drawn out words, the constant repetition of "aw, aw," and the affected lackadaisical style of manner and speech, annoyed Mary even while it amused her. Indeed, at last nothing but the recollection that he was her uncle's guest could influence her to endure his society.