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"Do," said Julia, in order to change the subject, go to Madame de A.'s. Indeed, I am much, much better now; and thank you a thousand times for the care you have taken of me. Do, dear friend, go."

66 Bless you for those words," cried Mowbray," and never, never shall you find me unworthy of so enviable a title; but, indeed, I will not, cannot leave you, till your maid comes; then I will go-for, for your sake I ought to be seen at that horrid ball. You need not, however, dread my remaining, for my heart is too full to say more to-night; but, O Julia! to-morrow I will try and convince you that all men are not wholly and solely actuated by motives of selfishness." As he finished speaking, he walked over to the table and poured out a glass of water; while he was drinking it, a knock came to the door.

"Come in," said Lady de Clifford, and Berryl entered in the greatest possible state of trepidation.

"Good evens, my Lady, what as appened?" exclaimed she, "for I left you quite well and ready dressed, and I got this slip of paper, saying your ladyship was took suddenly hill; and I should have been here sooner, but Madam Hangelique, the Countess's maid, tried to persuade me hin her broken Henglish, that it was only a masquerading hoax of the Count's valley, that gave me the paper; but though I saw plenty of blue dominoes, they had none of them your air, my lady, so I come away-for all they could say to me. And I hope your ladyship hain't been very hill." "No, only an accident, Berryl. I put my wrist out of joint and fainted from the pain, and Mr. Mowbray, who happened to pass through the room, saw me, and was good enough to go for a doctor, who has bandaged it up, and I dare say it will soon be well."

Berryl, who now for the first time perceived Mowbray, dropped him a low courtesy, with an "I beg your pardon, sir, I didn't hobserve you before. Was her ladyship long in the faintin fit?"

66

Not very long," replied he, "and Doctor Pozzo is to send some leeches for her hand, and a composing draught to be taken on going to bed."

"Let me look at your hand, my lady," said Berryl; and then shaking her head, she muttered, "haccident indeed! No, but more of that wretch's andy work." "I'm sure," said Lady de Clifford, turning to Mowbray, and anxious to prevent Berryl saying anything

further, "I have a thousand apologies to make for detaining you so long from the ball."

"Not at all," said he, in a tone of common place gallantry. "I'm too happy if I have been of the slightest use" and then added in a still more careless tone, turning to Berryl, "I don't suppose I have lost much of the spectacle-have I?"

"No, sir, not much, only the game with the living cards, which was very beautiful and curus, the way they were hall shuffled, and cut, and dealt three times over, and each time Mussne de Rivoli, who is the knave of spades, you know, sir, contrived always to get next Miss Neville, and then there was great laughing, and Major Nonplus would come up and insist upon fair play, and their being dealt over again."

"And how do Queen Elizabeth and her court get on?" asked Mowbray smiling.

"O p'raps it's very wrong of me to say, sir, and a servant may have no business to make remarks, but I should say it was quite rediclus-hevery one was laughing, especially when the French gentleman that went as the Hedgehog caught the old lady's ruff in one of his quills; and, then, Sir, Something Sally, that's Mr. Herbert, you know, sir, drew his sword, but the hedgehog poking his quills in his eyes he was glad to make his escape, and then how the people did laugh, to be sure! but some of the dresses are most helegunt and splendid, certainly."

"Well, you really make me long to see it all," said Mowbray, smiling; and then turning to Julia, and holding out his hand, added, "and as I think I must rather be in your way than otherwise, I'll now wish you good-night, my dear Lady de Clifford, sincerely hoping that you may feel no bad effects from your accident by to-morrow; and I'm sure I can't leave you in better or more careful hands than Mrs. Berryl's."

"That's what I call a real gentleman," said the latter, as Mowbray closed the door after him; "but how Mr. Sanford could go and tell every one that his dress was the most splendid thing that ever was seen, unless he wanted to mystify us all, I'm sure I cannot conceive; but it is no great matter, for such a andsome man looks well in any thing, while all the velvet and jewels in the world won't make some people lock even passable."

Leaving Julia to the care of Berryl, we will follow Mowbray. When he got into his gondola, to go to the Palazzo Barberigo, the sea was no longer dark, but like a sheet of diamond-water, from the light of the bright moon above it, and everything looked and sounded happier than when he had floated over it an hour or two before; and as he landed at the terrace of the Palazzo, a boat passed in which a very sweet voice, that seemed to rise from the waters, was singing the barcarola " Or che in Cielo," from the Marino Faliero. This had scarcely passed, before another bark glided by, with an apparently happier party, who were singing most exquisitely that beautiful terzetto from Otello, "Ti parli l'amore." Mowbray lingered on the steps, and joined in it, till he felt a hand upon his shoulder, and heard a voice exclaim, (which he instantly recognised as Saville's,) "No doubt, holy father, ti parli l'amore' is your form of absolution when confessing a pretty novice; but now tell me, in plain English, what makes you so late?"

"I have been here some time," stammered Mowbray.

"Then I hope you saw how well we played our cards?"

"Yes-no-that is, it was so hot, I did not go into the house-yet, in fact, just as I was coming away, poor Lady de Clifford was taken very ill, and nobody being left in the house, I had to go for a doctor, which detained me; in short, (but don't tell her sister, at least to-night, for it would only make her unhappy, and do no good,) her husband gave her a blow on her hand that put her wrist out of joint, and she fainted from the pain."

"Brute!" exclaimed Saville; "how I long to kick that man! and I shall have to do it at last."

"Pray resign in my favour," said Mowbray, "whenever the opportunity occurs; but how is this-I left you the knave of hearts, and now I find you an English sailor?"

"A distinction without a difference, perhaps you think," said Saville; "but my black-eyed Susan is waiting for me, and I have a squib to give that illustrious member of the British senate, Mr. Herbert Grimstone; so addio mio caro!" saying which, he darted off, leaving Mowbray to choose what path he liked.

As he advanced into the garden, he found it brilliantly illuminated, with groups of gorgeously-dressed people representing different scenes, eras, and epochs in Italian history; and one end of the garden, in especial, presented a scene of dazzling splendour, being fitted up as the Piazzo di San Marco, representing that magnificent festival given on the defeat of the rebels, and the end of the Candian war, the splendour of which Petrarch complained of being unable to find an adequate Latin name for. There sat, in the mimic marble gallery over the porch, the Doge, with his princely train, sheltered by golden canopies; Petrarch on his right alone, and the four-and-twenty noble Venetian youth headed by a Ferrarese; then came the group of English barons, (some of the blood royal, as Petrarch described them,) and the flashing of bright eyes, and crimsoning of soft cheeks, amid the waving of white plumes, and the glittering of costly jewels-altogether the scene was one of fairy-like enchantment, but too gay and buoyant to accord with the dreamy but melancholy happiness of Mowbray's mind that night; so he lingered but a moment, and walked silently on till he reached the house; he entered the vestibule just as Saville (whom he knew by his dress, in spite of a very good and characteristic mask) was presenting a scroll of paper to Sir Walter Raleigh, whom he accosted after the following man

ner:

"You be a parliament man now: well, nobody 'ill ever be the better for that; howsomedever, I wish as how you'd just present this here petition the next time parliament's rerogued, for I know it's prorogued at present. Now mind, my hearty, if you don't, it's all up with you at your next 'lection-I tell ee so, and I'm a Triverton man; and I ha'n't been aboard an English man-o'war so long without knowing something about unfurling canvass, d'ye see? Whoy you're sadly gone down in the world as you've got on in it; for when she was on her reign (pointing to his mother, who was leaning on his arm) you did some good, for you brought baccy into England; so put that into your pipe and smoke it, as Muster Hume says in his history of England."

"My dear," said the Dowager Lady de Clifford to her son, moving onward, "this is vaustly disagreeable

to be beset by such vulgar people; throw away that paper that horrid man gave you."

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O, my dear mamma, all these sort of things are the life of a masquerade, and we may find some fun in this when we get home."

"Please your most gracious Majesty," said Major Nonplus, dragging ex officio an unfortunate youth by the collar-"here is a vagrant that has been lately shooting over your Majesty's royal demesne of Blichingly, in -shire, come to crave your highness's

pardon."

"Who is it?" whispered her Majesty to Sir Walter Raleigh, pointing to a thread papery-looking neither man nor boy, dressed as Master Slender."

"O, Lord Charles Dinely, Lord Shuffleton's youngest son, who has just left Harrow, and is here with his tutor; and if you remember, my dear mamma, you were kind enough to say, that I might ask him to shoot at Blichingly, whenever he was in the neighbourhood."

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“O, ah! true, my dear, I'm'vaustly glad he's here, for I'll ask him about my plantation near the labyrinth, as he has been so recently at Blichingly." So saying, she graciously turned to the lordling, who had a vast deal of unlicked cubbism about him, and said—

"I hope your lordship had good sport at Blichingly."

66 Pretty fair! but all the keepers confoundedly stupid."

"Did your lordship," (his lordship was just seventeen) "did your lordship see the new plantation ?” "Yes."

"Were the elders and birch trees coming on?”

"Pon my honour, I don't know, for I'm no achorologist; only know, that when I left Harrow, birch was doucedly backward."

At the conclusion of this brilliant sally, Lord Charles turned upon his heel with a horse laugh, and left the poor dowager lamenting her unusual waste of civility.

Weary of all around him, Mowbray left the hall and wandered up stairs, till he came to the room in which Titian died; it was deserted, save by his pictures of the Magdalene and the Venetian senator, and it might be haunted by the spirit of him that painted them. Mowbray flung himself upon a couch, and gazing upon the deep and mournful beauty of the face before

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