This was not a very delicate speech, but feminine refinement was not the characteristic of the age, and still less of Catherine Sedley, who in the exuberance of her spirits, or in her determination to be sprightly, was not seldom betrayed into some degree of coarseness. Walter replied in that tone of inflated gallantry which then formed the staple of polite conversation, and which', being expressly adapted to the taste of his auditress, occasioned her to resume the sparkling vivacity, not always undebased by flippancy and inelegant attempts at humour, that had marked her demeanour at Westbury. On the first approach of her visitant she had thrown herself upon the sofa in a lounging attitude, and assumed a languor and lassitude of manner which were in accordance with the prevailing fashion, and considered moreover an appropriate demeanour in one who was habited à la Sultane; but as this mode was little congenial to the natural activity, both of her body and mind, it was speedily shaken off as her feelings enkindled. She was pleased with her

visitant, whose appearance had been not less improved than her own by a change of dress; and being anxious, in the true spirit of a coquette, to excite his admiration, she became every moment more and more exhilarated, talking, laughing, and rattling with a most fascinating gaiety, now assuming a bantering vein, in which the asinine Mayor of Westbury was by no means forgotten, now launching sallies of brilliant satire, and sparkling with a like success in every thing she attempted; while the parasitical Mrs. Morlay seized every little pause to throw in a dose of oblique flattery, generally, however, looking very grave at the time, and assuming a tone of reproof or admonishment. "Madcap! wild, giddy, delightful woman!" would she exclaim; "will nothing tame you? Well, it is a charming thing to have such spirits, but they are hazardous ;-beware of thus indulging them;-with every body else that I have known they have been apt to end in a fit of dejection. What inexhaustible wit, but what a dangerous gift! Ah! you should check it,

you should check it, you should indeed; for it will make you more enemies than friends. I have warned you of this a thousand times-I know you are offended with me for my importunity, but I don't care-I am determined you shall have one honest, plain-spoken friend about you." These ejaculations were varied, when her patroness made any attempts at broad humour, by immoderate peals of laughter, and earnest entreaties that she would have pity upon the stitch in her side, and not kill her outright by provoking her to farther risibility, while she stigmatized the drollery that was thus absolutely irresistible, as being really an unfair weapon.

Walter, though little versed in the ways of the world, could not help suspecting that there was some little cajolery in all this; but Catherine's vanity had so far obscured her natural shrewdness, that she was completely duped, and though she often complained to others that Mrs. Morlay was a preaching, importunate Duenna, blunt almost to rudeness, she never failed to add that she was an intelligent woman, honest

as the day, and one whom she had found on all occasions a most sincere and impartial friend; the only one, in fact, who told her frankly of her faults.

Stimulated by the buoyant vivacity of the Countess, Walter exerted his own conversational powers to the best of his ability, and was so much delighted by his reception, and beguiled by the liveliness of their colloquy, that an hour slipped away almost imperceptibly. The striking of a superb French clock upon the mantelshelf, warning him that he had exceeded the time usually allotted for a morning visit, he prepared to take his departure, not however until he had asked permission to renew his visit ; and expressed a hope that if at any future period he should be found worthy of it, the Countess would condescend to give him the benefit of her influence in assisting his advancement in the army. In our days a man of independent feeling would hardly venture such an application on so very short an acquaintance; but at the period of which we are writing, or at least

throughout the long reign of Charles the Second, when promotion of all sorts sprang from Court favour rather than merit, and was more especially insured by the intrigues of the royal mistresses, none were fastidious enough to hesitate about soliciting it, at the very first opportunity that presented itself. "The sooner you renew your visit, the more shall I be gratified," exclaimed the Countess in answer to Walter's request; "but as to my influence, may I die! if I possess more at the present moment than Titus Oates, or any other outcast of the earth. No-the monk's frock outweighs now-a-days the lady's petticoat; cowls and shaven heads have greater power than hoods and ringlets, and old women have superseded the young ones. I am no Catholic, and therefore I have no influence, not even enough to prevent my being ejected from my apartments in Whitehall. True, I have this gilded cage instead, but it is a cage, and alas! I am not always, as at the present moment, disposed to sing and be merry in it- Mais n'importe. Away with gloomy