the details of my acquaintance with your eccentric relation. It is of more importance that I should satisfy your very natural curiosity with respect to myself. I accordingly subjoin the following particulars on that interesting subject, humbly hoping, that, as I nothing extenuate,' so you will not set down aught in malice:"

66

First, as to

birth and family. I am an only child, and an orphan. With respect to my parents, I can only say, that I was always given to understand, that I had had a father and mother; but I am unfortunately unable to speak to the fact from my personal knowledge. From the age of eighteen months, I was brought up by a distant relative, to whose care I had been left, as the guardian of the very little property bequeathed to me by my father. My education has been like that of most of my acquaintance. I was kept, for a certain number of years, at school,-made to pay for a good deal of Greek and Latin, and got very little value for my money; but, as usual, I suppose, that was my own fault: at fifteen, my guardian got rid of me (a good riddance,) by sending me out to India as a cadet.

66

Quant au personnel;—I am above five feet nine in height; weight, averaging from nine stone to nine and at half; complexion, just now, approaching to mahogany, but, I trust, capable of being bleached by change of climate; my hair, dark brown, except where it is growing grey, a change which, I am sorry to say, is in rapid operation. This, however, is of less consequence, as my once flowing locks are falling off with still greater rapidity. My age is two and thirty; my rank, that of a lieutenant in the Bengal Cavalry; my present income 1007. per annum, exclusive of regimental pay and allowances; my prospects, nil. I have no doubt that I should play very well on the guitar, had I ever learned,-that I should sing very sweetly, if I had any voice,-and that I should indite very pretty verses, if I were only to try. My dancing would also be unexceptionable, were it not for an unfortunate halt in my gait,-the result of a shattered ankle, which was my reward for assisting to storm an impregnable and unpronounceable fort, some ten years back. As to my temper, it would not, perhaps, become

me to say much. I may, however, assert, with tolerable confidence, that I am seldom very much put out, as long as I have every thing my own way: au reste, we all know, that, in the social as well as the physical climate, an occasional hurricane is of use in clearing the atmosphere. I have only to add, that I never smoke in the presence of a lady; and that my constitution is unimpaired by brandy and water. What more can I say?"

"I will now conclude, with an humble and dutiful request, that I may be allowed the honour of a personal interview with you at your earliest convenience; and, in the mean time, I recommend to your notice the accompanying miniature, which will present you with a tolerably accurate delineation of that extérieur which I have partly described above, but which, as the heralds say, 'in the margin more lively is depicted.'

"I have the honour to be, Madam,

"Your faithful and devoted Servant,

"COURTENAY BRIGGS."

It would not be easy to do justice to what was passing in the mind of our heroine, as she read this despatch. Every feeling of womanly pride, dignity, and delicacy, revolted against the unceremonious disposal of her hand which her uncle had made the condition of his posthumous bounty. Under such circumstances, his legacy was little more than a mockery and an insult. Should she submit to be transferred, as so much "live stock," to the possession of Mr. Courtenay Briggs, by the stroke of a pen? The idea was insufferable, degrading! But, in spite of her just indignation, she could not help feeling a slight degree of curiosity respecting the appearance of the individual to whom she had been thus cavalierly bequeathed; and she opened the miniature-case with a degree of eagerness worthy of a more pleasing, if not a more interesting, occasion. Heaven and earth! what a scarecrow presented itself to her view! It was "such a man," she thought, "so wo-begone," who

"Drew Priam's curtain at the dead of night.”

The face was long, thin, and angular; the features, pinch

ed; the complexion, to all appearance, undergoing a transition from the yellow-jaundice to the blue-cholera; the hair scanty, and bristling, "like quills upon the fretful porcupine;" the cheeks, hollow, the eyes, sunk and lustreless; and, to crown all, this oriental edition of the anatomie vivante, was arranged in a uniform of sky-blue and silver, which hung upon him as a great-coat hangs upon a peg, giving no visible assurance of any internal substance analogous to the outward form in which the tailor had arranged his materials.

Long and silently did she gaze on this attractive effigy of her soi-disant intended; nor could she sufficiently admire the delusion of that amour-propre, which could lead him to believe that he was recommending himself to the good graces of a fair lady, by means of a portrait which might have served as a most appropriate representation of the " knight of the rueful countenance." But if she had at first resolved on meeting with a decided negative the advantageous proposal of Mr. Courtenay Briggs, her determination was strengthened tenfold, now that she could form some idea of the extent of the sacrifice which she was required to make, in order to obtain her inheritBut before she had made up her mind as to the most judicious mode of signifying her resolution, under the circumstances, Mrs. Falkiner, surprised at the unusual delay in the performance of her daughter's toilet, entered the room with a view of hastening her proceedings,the carriage being at the door to conduct them to their dinner engagement.

́ance.

All the documents were, of course, immediately submitted to her inspection; but very different, indeed, were the feelings they excited in her breast, from those which Grace experienced on the occasion. Having long survived the period of romance, Mrs. Falkiner had ceased to regard the institution of matrimony in any other than a financial point of view; and from a fancied eminence of soi-disant philosophy, she looked down upon all who were accessible to les foiblesses du cœur, as so many absurd visionaries, who deserved to be brought to their

senses by the rough discipline of experience, and recalled to practical notions by

66 -that worst of earthly ills,

The inflammation of our weekly bills."

Accordingly she viewed the affair on its bright side; and -never, for a moment, doubting her daughter's acquiescence in so profitable an arrangement-congratulated her, with great sincerity, on this sudden turn of fortune in her favour.

"A hundred and fifty thousand pounds!" exclaimed she, in a tone of exultation; "why, Grace, you are the luckiest girl in the world! What a dear, good creature that uncle of yours was, to die so opportunely !"

"But, dear mamma,' remonstrated Grace, "think of the horrid condition which he has attached to his legacy. Do you really suppose I could consent to marry that odious wretch in the sky-blue? Not for ten times the

sum.

"Psha, Grace! how can you talk such nonsense? Odious wretch, indeed! I declare I think-judging from this picture that he must be a particularly gentlemanlike person,- —a leetle too pale, perhaps, but that is by far the best fault of the two."

"Such a name, too!" ejaculated Grace.

"The name is objectionable," said Mrs. Falkiner, "but that is easily remedied. He must take your name; and Mrs. Courtenay Falkiner will sound particularly well, I think. Come, sit down at once, like a good girl, and write a civil answer to the poor man. We must, of course, keep out of general society for a short while; but you may as well ask him to dine with us en famille tomorrow."

Grace, however, though usually submissive, conceived that the occasion fully justified the display of a little constitutional resistance to the maternal authority. She loudly protested against giving any encouragement to Mr. Briggs; and firmly, though respectfully, avowed her determination to relinquish the fortune sooner than accept the encumbrance.

This declaration produced, between the mother and daughter, a discussion of a rather animated character.

But we deem it inexpedient to enlighten the reader as to the exact particulars of what passed; conceiving that these little family misunderstandings, from which even the best regulated ménages are not wholly exempt, are more judiciously left to his imagination, or, perhaps, we should rather say, to his memory. As in most other discussions, however, each party remained unconvinced by the arguments brought forward on the other side; and Mrs. Falkiner had almost exhausted her powers of reasoning, so to speak,-on the subject, when she suddenly recollected that Col. and Mrs. Dynewell, with a whole host of distinguished guests, were, in all probability, waiting dinner for them; and visions of over-boiled fish, overbaked pâtés, over-roasted mutton, spoiled entrées, &c. &c. &c. rose in awful reproach before her.

"God bless me !" exclaimed she, "we are forgetting the Dynewells all this time--and it is now half-past eight! What shall we do?"

"Send an excuse, of course," said Grace. "I will write, and say that the loss of a near relation makes it impossible for us to attend. I am sure," continued she, half aside, "I might almost say, 'a severe domestic affliction,' for it seems likely to prove one to me."

"No!" said Mrs. Falkiner; "on second thoughts, we had better go: nobody knows anything about this affair yet; and, as this packet has arrived so late, we are not obliged, you know, to have heard anything of it till tomorrow; and by that time, I hope, you will have come to your senses, and be in a more reasonable frame of mind on the subject: besides, we are surely not to go without our dinner, because your great-uncle chooses to die in India."

Accordingly to Colonel Dynewell's they went, and ar rived in better time than they had anticipated, for they were not the last; and, consequently, Mrs. Falkiner's intended solemn asseveration, in the teeth of facts, that eight o'clock, instead of seven, had been written on their invitation-card, was not called into play. Dinner was at length announced, and Grace found herself at table near the last arrival, a young man with light hair and eyebrows, and a reddish-brown face, who seemed to be ra

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