"I am sure," replied Lady Glenmore, with an air of offended dignity which astonished Lady Tenderden, "I am sure Lord Glenmore desires nothing of me but what he conceives is for my own happiness; and I am perfectly willing to obey him in every thing, far less in such a matter of indifference as this." Her cheeks here grew redder and redder during every word of Lady Tenderden's insidious speech. The melancholy, uneasy expression, nevertheless, which in despite of herself threw a cast of restless inquiry into her countenance, as though she would have asked "to what do you allude?" did not pass unobserved by Lady Tenderden, and she conceived it to be a good time to let the poison work which she had thus insidiously distilled; so she arose to take her leave, and with apparent carelessness said, "_Au reste_, remember," and she spoke in a soothing tone of commiseration, as if she wished, were it possible, to have withdrawn, or at least to soften the words she had uttered, "remember, Lord Glenmore is not a bit worse than other men, they are all alike; and really I think him singularly agreeable, so do not let any thing I have said give you a moment's uneasiness." She knew the rankling arrow was in Lady Glenmore's heart. "You have nothing to do but to take your own way, and keep it well in mind that all husbands take theirs, and my word for it, if you only follow this counsel, you will live _en Tourtereaux_, and lead a very happy life." "I have no doubt I shall do that," said Lady Glenmore, half-crying. "Believe me, _cher enfant_, whenever you feel the least melancholy or uneasy, send for me, and I shall put all to rights for you in a moment; you are a delightful, an unique creature; I really love you, and him too; you know, he was my play-fellow when we were children, therefore I take a particular interest in you both, and am alike the friend of each. Come, dry these beauteous eyes, whose brightness ought not to be dimmed by a tear; come, take a drive with me in the Park." Lady Glenmore hesitated as she replied: "I expect Lord Glenmore every moment; he promised to drive me in his phaeton. He was to have been here an hour ago" (looking anxiously at the clock). "Well, then, if he is an hour after his appointment, you would not surely wait for him any longer? Depend upon it he has been engaged by some business, or it may be love of virtù or politics, _que sçai-je_--come let us go and look for him; my life for it we shall meet him in the Park." "Perhaps so," said the youthful Georgina with a sigh, who evidently assented to Lady Tenderden's proposal for no other reason than that the hope might be realized;--and ordering the servant who answered her bell, to tell her maid to arrange her shawl, she followed her _friend_ to her carriage.