"Lord Boileau we are very late, and if we do not make haste we shall be shut out." "Oh, no--all _that_ is left out of the evening's entertainment, I can assure you, for they begin to be afraid that nobody will go in, though the doors are left wide open all night." "I am not surprised, for I hate the whole thing, and think it is become quite detestable, only I promised Lady Aveling to go to-night, so if you are ready let us begone;--but I have not made my curtsey to Lady Hamlet." "Indeed, Lady Baskerville, you may spare yourself that trouble, if you mean to be agreeable, for do you not see she is enamoured _pardessus les yeux_ with _that_ Lord Albert D'Esterre." "Ah," rejoined Lady Baskerville, looking in the direction where they sat, "is it so? Well, every one has her taste; but I cannot say such a person would ever touch my heart." "Oh! _your_ heart we all know is assailable but _by one_, and that Baskerville is the man, the most to be envied in all the world; to be sure there never was _such_ a wife as you are, quite perfect, Lady Baskerville, only too perfect." Lady Baskerville cast back her head, and looking at Lord Boileau with one of her _intelligent_ smiles, they passed on, and stepping into the carriage, drove off to finish their evening amusements in the insipid glitter of an Almack's ball. After the lapse of some weeks Lady Hamlet Vernon was completely restored to health and beauty, and again resumed her usual routine of existence. She sought dissipation at all times eagerly, from habit; but now there was added to this impulse a restlessness of feeling, an anxiety if alone, and a void in her heart, from the evening in which her accident happened, such as she had never before experienced. It was in vain for her to conceal from herself, that she had perhaps _hitherto_ unconsciously courted the society of Lord Albert D'Esterre more than of any other person, without considering how far she was yielding to the gratification consistently with any probable chance of happiness to herself in the ultimate issue. She certainly had a decided preference for Lord Albert D'Esterre, or why did she seek every opportunity of seeing him; or why feel uneasy when she heard of his acknowledged affiance to another? These feelings prompted her to know more of the appearance and character of his intended bride, whom circumstances had as yet prevented from appearing in the great world of London, and to whom she was an utter stranger.