His wrath was not disarmed by the degree in which he had seen Lionel pleased. He wished him to approve; but he did not at all wish to see him attracted. When he advised Lucy to take him into her counsels, it was from the fear Mr. Delville should read how little he wished she should do so. Lucy quaked at the tone in which he addressed her. “Do you think, Lucy, I have had reason to be pleased at the mode in which I have been obliged to present my wife to the first of my relations who has seen her? Do you think your appearance and your occupation were calculated to make a favourable impression upon my family?” “I am so sorry, dear Lord Montreville! but I did so long to see those pretty things!” “Could you not send for the housemaid?” “Yes; to be sure I might; but I had nothing to do; and I only meant to take one peep, and I never thought of any body calling; I thought there was not a soul in London; and then, I know so few people—I never thought of being caught!” “You forget that I have a very large acquaintance, and that you are my wife; and you also forget one thing, which I have often tried to impress upon your mind—that a woman should never be unfit to be seen—that she should never be _caught_, as you term it, employed in any manner unsuited to her rank and station in life—that your pleasures should be such as befit the situation in which I have placed you; and that my wife should always act as if the eyes of the world were upon her. Let me hear no more of being _caught_—the expression is worthy of a school-miss in her teens.” Lucy blushed rosy red. She blushed for shame; for she felt there was something undignified in the expression: but she blushed more from anger at being treated as a missish girl—at being, in fact, accused of vulgarity. She was on the point of crying, but the servant entered with the tickets for the play; and he put on coals, and swept up the ashes, and lighted the lamps, and shut the shutters. Lucy had time to recover herself, and Lord Montreville to reflect that he should not do wisely to frighten her too much; that his own annoyance had perhaps caused him to speak more angrily than the thing deserved. It was, therefore, in a gay and good-humoured tone, that he bade her make haste and dress; though, at the same time, he gave her a hint to be simple in her costume, as it was not good _ton_ to be too smart at the play. They dined alone; but Lionel Delville and a friend joined them late in the evening. If he thought her pretty in the morning, he thought her lovely in her present quiet, but most _soigné_ and fashionable attire.