Brother Morgan, said De Lancaster, whilst you think fit to rally yourself with pleasantry, you shall be as pleasant as you like, and we won’t quarrel with you; but if you pique us upon the serious point of affection and respect, we may chance to defend ourselves in the same manner, that Amelia has done; I think therefore you will do well to be contented with the salute you have got; for the rough beard of Menelaus won’t do after the sweet lips of Helen. In the mean time, said the Colonel, if it will be any gratification to see Maria Devereux, I’ll introduce her to you. It is an elegant compliment, that her father has made in sending me her picture; and though Henry tells me in his letter that it is not half so handsome as the original, that may be an opinion very natural for him to give, but we are not absolutely bound to take the lover’s word against the painter’s art. Saying this, he gave the picture to Morgan; the ladies eagerly rose, and even De Lancaster was impatient to satisfy his curiosity with a sight of it: The ladies were in raptures with the beauty, De Lancaster with the character of the countenance; Morgan declared at once, that he had seen enough to understand why she preferred one of the finest fellows in the British service to all the yellow-faced nobles in the court of Portugal--There is discernment, said he, in those eyes, brother De Lancaster--Yes, yes; replied the other-- “Oculi loquuntur male pertinaces.” CHAPTER VII. _Conversation in an Evening Walk._