Lady Petherington and her sister (who, by the way, were both grey, if the truth had been known, and wore false teeth) made themselves particularly amiable at Montem, and the eldest (Amy said she was fifty, at least) was by no means comfortable under what she called the ignorantly patronising airs of Miss Tallant. We fear Amy did not intend to enhance the happiness of Lady Petherington’s visits. “They only came, your lordship,” she said to the Earl, when they were alone for a few minutes in the gardens, “they only came because I am going to be a countess.” “Good, good,” said his lordship, swinging his eye-glass round, and looking admiringly at the fine woman who was laughing and chatting so easily. “It is true. I never heard of them until the other day: they cut my poor mother for marrying a commoner. Fancy, your lordship, only fancy Lady Mary Petherington cutting any one!” Amy laughed quite bewitchingly at the idea of any one caring what opinion Lady Mary Petherington might have concerning them. “There! Now I know you will think me shockingly ungrateful, after they have condescended so much,” went on the merry girl, patting his lordship’s hand with her fan, and flashing her big dark eyes upon him. “What a merry laugh it is; it does one’s heart good,” said his lordship, offering Miss Tallant his arm, and leading her away at the sound of approaching footsteps. “These ladies have only come to make your lordship’s acquaintance, not mine; they have determined to spend long visits at Montem Castle. I saw Lady Mary choosing her room when she was looking at those beautiful apartments on the first floor. I did indeed,” she went on, and then she laughed again, and Lord Verner laughed, and said the Countess was full of fun. Whether it was fun or not, he said the Countess of Verner should select her own guests, and at this moment their ladyships and Phœbe joined them on the terrace. A few minutes afterwards, when Phœbe and the future Countess went up-stairs to put on their shawls, Miss Tallant sat down wearily in the first chair that presented itself, wearied and jaded with the part she had been playing. What a fine actress she would have made; her _rôle_ would have included all the glorious women of the drama, from “Lady Teazle” to “Constance” in King John. END OF VOL. II. BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. Transcriber’s Notes Italics are indicated as _italics_. Apparent typographical errors have been changed. Inconsistent word hyphenation and spelling have been regularized. The title of Chapter VII in the table of contents was changed from “HIMSELF IT ANOTHER CHARACTER” to “HIMSELF IN ANOTHER CHARACTER.” Page 2: “brooded over her owly birth” changed to “brooded over her lowly birth”. Page 11: “late events; i really grieves me” changed to “late events; it really grieves me”.