to Ann Eliza; but she kept her feelings to herself, leaving it to
Evelina to exclaim at the hepaticas under the shady ledges, and to
Miss Mellins, less interested in the vegetable than in the human
world, to remark significantly on the probable history of the
persons they met. All the alleys were thronged with promenaders
and obstructed by perambulators; and Miss Mellins's running
commentary threw a glare of lurid possibilities over the placid
family groups and their romping progeny.

Ann Eliza was in no mood for such interpretations of life;
but, knowing that Miss Mellins had been invited for the sole
purpose of keeping her company she continued to cling to the dress-
maker's side, letting Mr. Ramy lead the way with Evelina. Miss
Mellins, stimulated by the excitement of the occasion, grew more
and more discursive, and her ceaseless talk, and the kaleidoscopic
whirl of the crowd, were unspeakably bewildering to Ann Eliza. Her
feet, accustomed to the slippered ease of the shop, ached with the
unfamiliar effort of walking, and her ears with the din of the
dress-maker's anecdotes; but every nerve in her was aware of
Evelina's enjoyment, and she was determined that no weariness of
hers should curtail it. Yet even her heroism shrank from the
significant glances which Miss Mellins presently began to cast at
the couple in front of them: Ann Eliza could bear to connive at
Evelina's bliss, but not to acknowledge it to others.

At length Evelina's feet also failed her, and she turned to
suggest that they ought to be going home. Her flushed face had
grown pale with fatigue, but her eyes were radiant.

The return lived in Ann Eliza's memory with the persistence of