"I have plenty to do,"--coming in and closing the door,--"but nothing I would not gladly throw over to accept an invitation from you." "Dear me! What a charming speech! What a courtier you would have made! Consider yourself doubly welcome. I adore pretty speeches, when addressed to myself. Now, sit there, while I decide on what jewelry I shall wear to-night." "So this is her sanctum," thinks her husband, glancing around. What a dainty nest it is, with its innumerable feminine fineries, its piano, its easel, its pretty pink-and-blue _cretonnne_, its wealth of flowers, although the season is of the coldest and bleakest. A cozy fire burns brightly. In the wall opposite is an open door, through which one catches a glimpse of the bedroom beyond, decked out in all its pink-and-white glory. There is a very sociable little clock, a table strewn with wools and colored silks, and mirrors everywhere. As for Cecil herself, with honest admiration her husband carefully regards her. What a pretty woman she is! full of all the tender graces, the lovable caprices, that wake the heart to fondness. How charming a person to come to in grief or trouble, or even in one's gladness! How full of gayety, yet immeasurable tenderness, is her speaking face! Verily, there is a depth of sympathy to be found in a pretty woman that a plain one surely lacks. Her white gown becomes her _a merveille_, and fits her to perfection. She cannot be called fat, but as certainly she cannot be called thin. When people speak of her with praise, they never fail to mention the "pretty roundness" of her figure. Her hair has partly come undone, and hangs in a fair, loose coil, rather lower than usual, upon her neck. This suits her, making still softer her soft though _piquante_ face. Her white and jeweled fingers are busy in the case before her as, with puckered brows, she sighs over the difficulty of making a wise and becoming choice in precious stones for the evening's triumphs. At last--a set of sapphires having gained the day--she lays the casket aside and turns to her husband, while wondering with demure amusement on the subject of his thoughts during these past few minutes. He has been thinking of her, no doubt. Her snowy wrapper, with all its dainty frills and bows, is eminently becoming. Yes, beyond all question he has been indulging in sentimental regrets. Sir Penthony's first remark rather dispels the illusion. "The old boy puts you up very comfortably down here, don't he?" he says, in a terribly prosaic tone. Is this all? Has he been admiring the furniture during all these eloquent moments of silence, instead of her and her innumerable charms? Insufferable! "He do," responds she, dryly, with a careful adaptation of his English. Sir Penthony raises his eyebrows in affected astonishment, and then they both laugh. "I do hope you are not going to say rude things to me about last night," she says, still smiling.