had plucked, and which she had placed in her bosom, and, I thought, touched it more than was absolutely necessary with her pretty lip; when, so champagned and sunny had my mind become, that I believe if Satan himself had joined the party, I should have called him fair, and asked him to have drunk some wine. The only thing which jarred upon my ear was the name of my intended wife; she was rich and lovely in all besides, but though her appellation was not pretty, still it had a latent charm for the curious, when analyzed by a sufficient test of consideration, which might make up for its poetic deficiency.

Dinner being over, and coffee ordered, Hugh and Louisa strolled forth again into the garden; and left the fortune and myself for the promised tête-à-tête. I am not bold by nature, and my pride is ever annoyed at the idea of a repulse; but, on this occasion, a sufficiency of wine, warm weather, and a gracious smile, had so braced my nerves and elevated my perceptions, that, I resolved to decide my fate, and rise or fall in a single brilliant effort.

Our conversation aptly turned on love and its effects— its sunshine and its sorrows. Miss Manydubs laughed at the idea of a broken heart; while I, with a deep sigh asked, "Did she really deem it impossible?"

She in her turn sighed, looked down, and I proceeded:

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They say, also, that there is no such thing as love at first sight, and that a sudden predilection of this sort is a species of temporary insanity, and ought not be dignified with the name; I do not agree with them. A first sensation is ever a true one; it is spontaneous, an impulse of nature, arising from the pure fountain of the heart, and unalloyed by the cooler dictates of reason, and the sordid sensuality of the

world. For me, it has hues of loveliness beyond the power of words-dearest Miss Manydubs, that bright sensation". "Is mine at this moment," I was about to add, but for the infernal opening of the door, and appearance of a man's head with lank brown hair, and spectacles on nose, who seemed to fix his assisted vision on my great coat, lying on a chair at the further end of the room. "I beg pardon," the owner of the head muttered, hastily advancing to seize my garment," but I left my coat."

"Hold, sir," I exclaimed, " that's mine," and stopping short, the intruder faced about, making good his retreat with the same speed at which he had entered.

Ere I recovered from this shock, Hugh, Louisa, and coffee came in together; when, in my heart, assigning every soul to perdition who ever wore spectacles, or sought great coats, I lamented bitterly the interruption of a moment so fraught with destiny to my future life.

Having finished our coffee, the sun being about to set, we prepared for our projected ramble; and,-in spite of the parrot in the passage, who threw seeds on my head, and cursed the cook, as we went forth,-I began to feel as if I was really in love; the more so, as within the last few minutes I had ascertained that my heroine's christian name was Alicia. Hugh and Louisa walked first, while we followed at a kind and considerate distance. Arrived at the Bridge over the little river Crane, Alicia and myself stopped to throw a stone at the gudgeons as they played in the shallows. This pause placed us still more in the rear of our friends; and when we again followed them they had rounded the bridge to the left, and were wandering by the broader water in the directien of the park pales.

The birds were warbling their evening song, the moorhens uttering their short, sharp cry, and the wood pigeon in the park seemed, with her soft, mild note, to be singing nature to sleep. There was around us a dewy, dreamy stillness, and a calm sensation of peace and rest which appeared the effect of magic, when one remembered that in the short space of an hour and twenty minutes, that scene could be exchanged for the noise and blaze of a full opera.

Our friends were now out of sight, and we paused by the edge of the stream, where grew a cluster of low alders, to look at the beautiful water lilies; when, time and situation so well suiting, I resumed my discourse on first impressions. So well did I reason, and such apt conclusions followed my mode of argument, that Alicia was apparently convinced, and I had begun to think that Orpheus was not more seducing than myself. I had just ventured to take her hand, but, at that instant, a rustling sound proceeded from the low growth of alders immediately beneath us,a figure rose with startling effect-and as it rushed past us in the direction of the inn, I recognised, in spite of the twilight, the very same straight-haired young man in spectacles, who had previously paid a visit to my great coat. He must have heard every syllable of our conversation; and this consciousness of his participation in my secret annoyed me not a little. What could he have been doing there? He seemed like an evil genius, bent on thwarting my dearest wishes. Thus, with the thread of my discourse broken, and another opportunity lost, we walked on for some moments in silence.

It is impossible to wander in this quiet scene and not harmonize with all that surrounds you. Perhaps, from the

contrast with the adjacent city, it seems quieter than elsewhere; there are more birds in the woods, no such shelter existing near, to draw them away; they seem to sing more, and make more nests. In short, there is no place so favourable to the growth of love; and had we been left tête-à-tête for a moment longer, my eloquence would again have been all-powerful, and I must have succeeded. But, alas! we

were joined by our friends.

Hugh told me they had entered the park gate, and had not proceeded ten yards, when they were civilly desired to walk out by a gamekeeper, lest they should disturb the hares.

"Would to heavens," I exclaimed, "you had sent the keeper to me, he should have caught the man in spectacles, who must have been stealing the fish. '

We now returned towards the inn: but in vain were my attempts to loiter or converse by the way; eloquence and champagne had alike deserted me. Alicia herself seemed to have awakened from the soft chain of ideas I had so artfully led her into; and would not assist me to another opportunity of again exerting my influence.

“Thus,” I inwardly exclaimed, "are the most beautiful passages of harmony often marred by a single false note. Yet were I to tell this story to the world, or to my friends, they would call it nothing."

We now regained the inn; I was out of humour with myself, with Miss Manydubs, and with Hugh and Louisa, who, during our return, would neither walk fast enough to get out of our way, or slow enough to enable us to get out of theirs and I began to think there was but one soul in the party, and that was mine. However, when I least expected it, the golden opportunity once more arrived, and

H

as it was unlooked for, so did I seize upon it with the greater avidity. We were again left in the parlour together: she stood at the open window, it was dark all but the faint light of the young moon, when, approaching her side, and encircling her waist with one arm, I whispered,

Alicia, dearest Alicia, be not offended at my calling you by that delightful name, this moment of parting after such a day of pleasure comes upon me like the white storm at sea, which overwhelms the mariner whilst slumbering in the midst of calm and sunshine. I little thought when I arose this morning, free and unshackled as the boundless wind, that eve would find me a very slave."

As I said this my lip approached hers, but-heavensthe door again flew open, and the waiter's head came in. "If you please, sir, have you got your coat?"

I cast my eyes on the chair, it was gone.

"No," I replied, frantic with indignation at the repeated interruption.

"Then, if you please, sir, the young man in spectacles has taken it, who is just gone up by the Alligator, leaving a sadly torn one in its stead."

"Stop him," I cried, losing all patience, "stop him, stop the crocodile, or whatever you call it. Gods! that I might catch the villain, and consign him, spectacles and all, to a monster of that description !"

And rushing forth to the door of the inn, I discovered that the perpetrator of all my misery and disappointment was far out of reach of vengeance, leaving me nothing but his dust.

When I returned to the room, candles were lit, and Hugh and the ladies ready to get into the carriage. To the former