'Very bright and intelligent, and can quite hold her own in conversation. That I can perfectly understand; her sister, Mrs. Chadwick, is one of those women who have the superficial knowledge and the taking manner which would please a man like Tito, and the girl no doubt has caught it from her. But, in addition to this, Mrs. Chadwick is a keen woman of the world, who conducted her own marriage on the cleverest commercial principles, and who wishes to see her sister as safely and as reputably landed. To such a person Tito is a catch, and his alliance very desirable; so that I shall have no assistance from her. The girl may possibly have the same views; but I should have a better chance with her than with her sister. If she be as described, it is impossible she can have any real feeling for Tito, but is simply prepared to accept him from a worldly point of view; and it seems to me that there are two ways by which I can spoil the plan on which my faithless Tito has set his heart. To carry out either I must make the acquaintance of the young lady, and find out all about her. If she does not care for Tito, it will be easy enough to introduce her to some one who will soon obliterate any recollection of that romantic youth; and if she does care for him, it will not be difficult to lead her into such an entanglement as, once proved to him, will prevent his having any further thought of her.' Actuated by these benevolent intentions, Mrs. Hamblin determined upon calling upon Mrs. Chadwick as soon as possible. Accordingly, the next day, she made her way to Fairfax-gardens. The acquaintance between the ladies had up to this time been slight, and though Mr. and Mrs. Hamblin had been present at the charades and other entertainments, and Mr. and Mrs. Chadwick had dined once during the season with the Hamblins, there had been no farther intimacy. When the servant brought in Mrs. Hamblin's card, Mrs. Chadwick was a little surprised, as the usual formal visits on either side had been paid, and she was not looking forward to a renewal of such courtesy until the ensuing season. Nevertheless she was gratified, for Mrs. Hamblin stood exceptionally well with society--her husband's official rank, and her own good looks, wealth, and _savoir faire_, enabling them to hold their own with the best; while Mrs. Chadwick fancied she had hitherto been only received by them on sufferance as it were, and that they had no intention of farther prosecuting the acquaintance. But Mrs. Chadwick was quite sufficiently clever to know that Mrs. Hamblin would not have come to see her without some motive, and what that motive might be--whether it was the filling up of an idle half-hour at a time when most of her intimates were out of town, or whether it was dictated by some deeper design--the lady of Fairfax-gardens revolved in her mind as she descended to the drawing-room to greet her visitor.