“Remember--it is to'be remembered--that in my version of her I have condensed the conversation of some hours, and given you, as it were, the substance of much talking; and also that I have not attempted to convey what certainly was a very perfect manner. She had no small share of good looks, a very sweet voice, and considerable attraction in point of breeding.” “I will accept none of these as alleviations, sir; her blandishments cannot blind the Court.” “I will not deny their influence upon myself,” said Beattie, gently. “I can understand you, sir,” said the Judge, pompously. “The habits of your profession teach you to swallow so much that is nauseous in a sweet vehicle, that you carry the same custom into morals.” Beattie laughed so heartily at the analogy that the old man's good-humor returned to him, and he bade him continue his narrative. “I have not much more to tell. We reached the house by about eleven o'clock at night, and my fellow-traveller sat in the carriage till I announced her to Mrs. Sewell. My own cares called me to the sick-room, and I saw no more of the ladies till this morning, just before I came away.” “She is, then, domesticated there? She has taken up her quarters at the Sewells' house?” “Yes. I found her maid, too, had taken possession of Colonel Sewell's dressing-room, and dispossessed a number of his chattels to make room for her own.” “It is a happy thing, a very happy thing for me, that I have not been tried by these ordeals,” said the Judge, with a long-drawn breath. “I wonder how Colonel Sewell will endure it.” “I have no means of knowing; he arrived late at night, and was still in bed and asleep when I left.” “You have not told me these people's name?” “Trafford,--Sir Hugh Beecham Trafford, of Holt-Trafford, Staffordshire.” “I have met the man, or rather his father, for it was nigh fifty years ago,--an old family, and of Saxon origin; and his wife,--who was she?” “Her name was Merivale. Her father, I think, was Governor of Madras.” “If so, sir, she has hereditary claims for impertinence and presumption. Sir Ulysses Merivale enjoyed the proud distinction of being the most insolent man in England. It is well that you have told me who she was, Beattie, for I might have made a very fatal blunder. I was going to write to Sewell to say, 'As this is a great issue, I would advise you to bring down your mother, “special,”' but I recall my intention. Lady Lendrick would have no chance against Lady Trafford. Irish insolence has not the finish of the English article, and we put an alloy of feeling in it that destroys it altogether. Will the young man recover?” “He is going on favorably, and I see nothing to apprehend, except, indeed, that the indiscretions of his mother may prejudice his case. She is very likely to insist on removing him; she hinted it to me as I took my leave.”