gesture of a musing reasoner who is approaching the close of a difficult
calculation.

At length she paused, fronting me, and said dryly,--

"Accept my congratulations. Life smiles on you now; guard that smile, and
when we meet next, may we be even firmer friends than we are now!"

"When we meet next,--that will be to-night--you surely go to the mayor's
great ball? All the Hill descends to Low Town to-night."

"No; we are obliged to leave L---- this afternoon; in less than two hours
we shall be gone,--a family engagement. We may be weeks away; you will
excuse me, then, if I take leave of you so unceremoniously. Stay, a
motherly word of caution. That friend of yours, Mr. Margrave! Moderate
your intimacy with him; and especially after you are married. There is in
that stranger, of whom so little is known, a something which I cannot
comprehend,--a something that captivates and yet revolts. I find him
disturbing my thoughts, perplexing my conjectures, haunting my
fancies,--I, plain woman of the world! Lilian is imaginative; beware of
her imagination, even when sure of her heart. Beware of Margrave. The
sooner he quits L---- the better, believe me, for your peace of mind.
Adieu! I must prepare for our journey."

"That woman," muttered I, on quitting her house, "seems to have some
strange spite against my poor Lilian, ever seeking to rouse my own
distrust of that exquisite nature which has just given me such proof of
its truth. And yet--and yet--is that woman so wrong here? True!
Margrave with his wild notions, his strange beauty!--true--true--he might
dangerously encourage that turn for the mystic and visionary which