"Ah!" said a gentleman, laughing, "the tie now is between young Morton and Langley, I believe. As Langley is the more _distingué_ of the two, I suppose the mother will favor him; but if one can judge from appearances, the daughter prefers Harry Morton." "I can assure you," interrupted Mr. Foster, an intimate friend of our family, "the daughter has quite as much admiration for the rich Mr. Langley as the mother. There is a little incident connected with that same concert Mrs. Duval speaks of, that convinces me of the daughter's powers of management." "Shame on you, Philip Foster!" said my mother, "you should not talk thus of any lady, much less of Mary Lee." "What was the incident, Mr. Foster?" eagerly inquired the other ladies. "Yes, do tell us, Phil," urged his gentleman friend. My mother looked reproachfully at Mr. Foster, but he shook his head laughingly at her, as he said, "Hear me first, dear Mrs. Duval, before you judge. I was at Mrs. Lee's two or three mornings since. Several visitors were in the drawing-rooms, among them Harry Morton, as usual. I was looking at a new and costly collection of engravings on the _commode_ table, when I overheard Harry Morton ask Miss Lee if he should join their party at the concert the next evening. She replied that she regretted they were not going, for she had already promised her mother to dine and spend the evening quietly with an old friend. The next evening at the concert the whole Lee party were there, and our belle, Miss Mary, was brought in by young Langley, just newly arrived from Europe. The unconscious _demi-toilette_ Mrs. Duval speaks so admiringly of, had the desired effect. Langley's taste has been chastened by a voyage over the Atlantic; the noisy over-dressing of his countrywomen would, of course, annoy his delicate sense--therefore was the simple home costume adopted in preference, and the "_available_" Mr. Langley secured as an admirer." "I do not believe any such thing, Philip!" exclaimed my mother, indignantly. "I will answer for it, there was some mistake. Mary Lee would scorn a falsehood, and is entirely above all artifice or design. Mrs. Lee is said to be maneuvering and worldly; if she is, her daughter is entirely free from such influences." "How did Morton take it, Phil?" asked the other friend, laughingly. "He was with me," replied Mr. Foster, evidently enjoying with some little malice my kind mother's annoyance, "we had dropped into the concert by chance together. He looked thunderstruck, but said nothing, and did not approach her during the whole evening. She knew he was there, however, for I saw her return his cold bow in a painfully embarrassed manner." The entrance of some other visiters, connected with the Lees, put an end to the conversation. That night, when my nurse was undressing me for bed, I said, "What's a belle, Katy?" "A very rich and beautiful young lady," replied my nurse, "who has plenty of lovers, and gets married very soon."