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“And I certainly shall not,” he replied, rather rudely, turning away. But he had not far to turn before a bright-tressed head bent towards him, and a brighter voice exclaimed:

“Ah, here you are at last! If I didn’t think you had given me the slip altogether, and I was in a rage, too, I can tell you! You don’t seem very chirpy, though; what’s the matter?”

It was the universal opinion universally expressed on that memorable evening that Mrs. Austin was making a fool of herself. “So stately his form and so lovely her face,” it was impossible they should escape observation. She was literally inseparable from her handsome friend; and if bereft of him for a short time she sat waiting—visibly, for his return—refusing all requests from other men—gaily enough, it is true—but with such devotion to this one companion, that (as some of the up-country girls observed), “It’s a regular scandal! She might just as well be engaged to him!” Whether the scandal consisted in the selfish absorption of an eligible partner, or some more recondite cause, did not appear on the surface; but the disapproval of her conduct was certainly widespread and broadly expressed.

This turn in the tide of public feeling was not long in reaching the quick ears of Carrie Klin-