“Ah!” cried General Brandon, “so you are officers of the British Army. I am more than pleased to meet you. I am, like most persons in my native state, of unmixed English descent, my family being a younger branch of the Suffolk–Brandons; and I also am of the profession of arms. I was in the old army, where I held the rank of major, and afterward, when I followed my state out of the Union, I had the honor of being brigadier–general in the army of the Southern Confederacy. Permit me to introduce you to my daughter.” And this General Brandon proceeded to do. Elizabeth bowed and smiled and was not at all taken aback by the suddenness of the acquaintance. Virginians think that all well–bred persons constitute a sort of national and international oligarchy, whereof every member is or ought to be known to every other member. Pelham and Darrell were perfectly delighted, Darrell at the chance of meeting so beautiful a girl as Elizabeth, and Pelham charmed with the courtesy and innocent simplicity of General Brandon, who, while a man of the world in its best sense, was yet unworldly. “And may I ask,” said the General, “if you are attending the ball to–night?” “Yes,” said Pelham, “we understood it was a Charity Ball, and bought tickets at the hotel; but as we are entire strangers, we were doubtful whether after all it would be judicious for us to show our faces in the ball–room.” “My dear sir,” replied General Brandon, earnestly, “do not give yourself the least uneasiness, I beg of you. I myself am not going, and a friend Mrs. Luttrell will chaperon my daughter; but Mrs. Luttrell will likewise chaperon you, and I shall have pleasure in introducing you to any one whom you may desire to meet. My daughter also will do the same.” “With pleasure,” said Elizabeth, quickly and sweetly. “If you will do me the honor to dance with me,” said Darrell to Elizabeth, thinking to cut Pelham out. “I can’t compete with Captain Darrell on that ground,” said Pelham, quickly, with a certain grimness in his smile, “but if Miss Brandon will only condescend to notice me in the ball–room, I shall feel that I am well established.” Elizabeth looked at Pelham closely. He was not at all handsome, but he was far from insignificant, and he had one of those beautifully modulated English voices and a look and a smile which were extremely winning to women, children, and lost dogs. Darrell on the contrary was as handsome as a dream, with the unmistakable blond, clean, Anglo–Saxon beauty. By this time, among the slow procession of carriages, ever moving, a big, old–fashioned landeau, with a pair of long–tailed horses to it and a colored coachman and footman, halted directly in front of them. A lady with very dark eyes and very white hair and a voice sweet, but with a singular carrying quality which could make itself heard over all the clatter of the street, called out:—