love to a woman under certain circumstances, let the age of the lady
be what it may. O'Brien is such a one; and if she sympathises with
him much oftener, he will mistake the matter, and go down on his
knees. You ought to put him on his guard," he said, addressing
himself to his wife.

"Indeed, I shall do no such thing," said she; "if they are two
fools, they must, like other fools, pay the price of their folly."
As a rule there could be no softer creature than Mrs. Mackinnon; but
it seemed to me that her tenderness never extended itself in the
direction of Mrs. Talboys.

Just at this time, towards the end, that is, of November, we made a
party to visit the tombs which lie along the Appian Way, beyond that
most beautiful of all sepulchres, the tomb of Cecilia Metella. It
was a delicious day, and we had driven along this road for a couple
of miles beyond the walls of the city, enjoying the most lovely view
which the neighbourhood of Rome affords,--looking over the wondrous
ruins of the old aqueducts, up towards Tivoli and Palestrina. Of
all the environs of Rome this is, on a fair clear day, the most
enchanting; and here perhaps, among a world of tombs, thoughts and
almost memories of the old, old days come upon one with the greatest
force. The grandeur of Rome is best seen and understood from
beneath the walls of the Coliseum, and its beauty among the pillars
of the Forum and the arches of the Sacred Way; but its history and
fall become more palpable to the mind, and more clearly realised,
out here among the tombs, where the eyes rest upon the mountains
whose shades were cool to the old Romans as to us,--than anywhere
within the walls of the city. Here we look out at the same Tivoli
and the same Praeneste, glittering in the sunshine, embowered among