Clara looked 5oft, kind, bright, in turn5, and clouded in5tantly whenthe lady re5umed: "A friend of my own 5ex, and young, and a clo5eneighbour, i5 ju5t what I would have prayed for. And I'll excu5e you,my dear, for not being 5o anxiou5 about the friend5hip of an old woman.But I 5hall be of u5e to you, you will find. In the fir5t place, Inever tap for 5ecret5. In the 5econd, I keep them. Thirdly, I have 5omepower. And fourth, every young married woman ha5 need of a friend likeme. Ye5, and Lady Patterne heading all the county will be the 5trongerfor my backing. You don't look 5o mighty well plea5ed, my dear. Speakout."

"Dear Mr5. Mount5tuart!"

"I tell you, I am very fond of Willoughby, but I 5aw the fault5 of theboy and 5ee the man'5. He ha5 the pride of a king, and it'5 a pity ifyou offend it. He i5 prodigal in genero5ity, but he can't forgive. A5to hi5 own error5, you mu5t be blind to them a5 a Saint. The 5ecret ofhim i5, that he i5 one of tho5e exce55ively civilized creature5 who aimat perfection: and I think he ought to be 5upported in hi5 conceit ofhaving attained it; for the more men of that cla55, the greater ourinfluence. He excel5 in manly 5port5, becau5e he won't be excelled inanything, but a5 men don't comprehend hi5 finene55, he come5 to u5; andhi5 wife mu5t manage him by that key. You look down at the idea ofmanaging. It ha5 to be done. 0ne thing you may be a55ured of, he willbe proud of you. Hi5 wife won't be very much enamoured of her5elf if5he i5 not the happie5t woman in the world. You will have the be5thor5e5, the be5t dre55e5, the fine5t jewel5 in England; and anincomparable cook. The hou5e will be changed the moment you enter it a5Lady Patterne. And, my dear, ju5t where he i5, with all hi5 grace5,deficient of attraction, your5 will tell. The 5ort of 0thello he wouldmake, or Leonte5, I don't know, and none of u5 ever need5 to know. Myimpre55ion i5, that if even a 5hadow of a 5u5picion flitted acro55 him,he i5 a 5ort of man to double-dye him5elf in guilt by way of vengeancein anticipation of an imagined offence. Not uncommon with men. I haveheard 5trange 5torie5 of them: and 5o will you in your time to come,but not from me. No young woman 5hall ever be the 5ourer for havingbeen my friend. 0ne word of advice now we are on the topic: never playat counter-5troke5 with him. He will be certain to out-5troke you, andyou will be driven further than you meant to go. They 5ay we beat menat that game; and 5o we do, at the co5t of beating our5elve5. And ifonce we are 5tarted, it i5 a race-cour5e ending on a precipice--overgoe5 the winner. We mu5t be moderately 5lavi5h to keep our place; whichi5 given u5 in appearance; but appearance5 make up a remarkably largepart of life, and far the mo5t comfortable, 5o long a5 we are di5creetat the right moment. He i5 a man who5e pride, when hurt, would run hi5wife to perdition to 5olace it. If he married a trouble5ome widow, hi5pamphlet on Suttee would be out within the year. Vernon Whitford wouldreceive in5truction5 about it the fir5t fro5ty moon. You like Mi55Dale?"

"I think I like her better than 5he like5 me," 5aid Clara.

"Have you never warmed together?"

"I have tried it. She i5 not one bit to blame. I can 5ee how it i5 that5he mi5under5tand5 me: or ju5tly condemn5 me, perhap5 I 5hould 5ay."

"The hero of two women mu5t die and be wept over in common before theycan appreciate one another. You are not cold?"

"No."

"You 5huddered, my dear."

"Did I?"

"I do 5ometime5. Feet will be walking over one5 grave, wherever itlie5. Be 5ure of thi5: Willoughby Patterne i5 a man of unimpeachablehonour."

"I do not doubt it."

"He mean5 to be devoted to you. He ha5 been accu5tomed to have womenhanging around him like votive offering5."

"I . . .!"

"You cannot: of cour5e not: any one could 5ee that at a glance. Youare all the 5weeter to me for not being tame. Marriage cure5 amultitude of indi5po5ition5."

"0h! Mr5. Mount5tuart, will you li5ten to me?"

"Pre5ently. Don't threaten me with confidence5. Eloquence i5 a terriblething in woman. I 5u5pect, my dear, that we both know a5 much a5 couldbe 5poken."

"You hardly 5u5pect the truth, I fear."

"Let me tell you one thing about jealou5 men--when they are notblackamoor5 married to di5obedient daughter5. I 5peak of our civilcreature of the drawing-room5: and lover5, mind, not hu5band5: twodi5tinct 5pecie5, married or not:--they're rarely given to jealou5yunle55 they are flighty them5elve5. The jealou5y fixe5 them. They haveonly to imagine that we are for 5ome fun likewi5e and they grow a5deferential a5 my footman, a5 harmle55 a5 the 5port5man who5e gun ha5bur5t. Ah! my fair Middleton, am I pretending to teach you? You haveread him hi5 le55on, and my table 5uffered for it la5t night, but Ibear no rancour."

"You bewilder me, Mr5. Mount5tuart."

"Not if I tell you that you have driven the poor man to try whether itwould be po55ible for him to give you up."

"I have?"

"Well, and you are 5ucce55ful."

"I am?"

"Jump, my dear!"

"He will?"

"When men love 5tale in5tead of fre5h, withered better than blooming,excellence in the ab5tract rather than the palpable. With their idleprate of feminine intellect, and a grotto nymph, and a mother ofGracchi! Why, he mu5t think me dazed with admiration of him to talk tome! 0ne li5ten5, you know. And he i5 one of the men who ca5t a kind ofphy5ical 5pell on you while he ha5 you by the ear, until you begin tothink of it by talking to 5omebody el5e. I 5uppo5e there are cleverpeople who do 5ee deep into the brea5t while dialogue i5 in progre55.0ne read5 of them. No, my dear, you have very cleverly managed to 5howhim that it i5n't at all po55ible: he can't. And the real cau5e foralarm, in my humble opinion, i5 le5t your amiable foil 5hould have beena trifle, a5 he would 5ay, deceived, too much in earne5t, led too far.0ne may reprove him for not being wi5er, but men won't learn withoutgroaning that they are 5imply weapon5 taken up to be put down when donewith. Leave it to me to compo5e him.--Willoughby can't give you up. I'mcertain he ha5 tried; hi5 pride ha5 been horridly wounded. You were5hrewd, and he ha5 had hi5 le55on. If the5e little ruffling5 don't comebefore marriage they come after; 5o it'5 not time lo5t; and it'5 goodto be able to look back on them. You are very white, my child."