cannot play sick nurse in a lace mantilla.
I must give up my poor or my silks, my
finery or my flannel." And she allowed
him to see that she carried under her shawl
a roll of the latter material, together with
an empty soup-jug. The colonel volunteered
to relieve her of the interesting burden, but
this she would not allow.

They became great friends in that short
walk. Mrs. Magniac was enthusiastic in
her admiration of the kind neighbours who
had hastened, from all sides, to cheer her
solitude, and, with a clever and graceful
compliment to the beauty of Miss Fonnereau,
sealed her conquest of the colonel's
goodwill. At parting, it was agreed that
Mon Port and Mon Désir should henceforth
live in close alliance; and the colonel, as
he trotted homeward, resolved to do battle
with his daughter's prejudice, and over-
come all her hesitations, as he had his own.

In this he partially succeeded. Geraldine
loved her father too fondly to offer persistent
opposition to anything he might desire.
Moreover, though possessing a rather high
and haughty spirit, she was frank and
generous by nature; and, acknowledging to
herself that her repugnance towards Mrs.
Magniac had, as yet, no rational foundation,
concealed, if she could not discard it.

Intercourse now became frequent, the
colonel and his daughter riding over, and
dropping anchor in Mon Port for hours
together. Wealth, and a refined taste,
were plainly traceable in all the appointments
of that charming residence, while its
sweet and simple mistress was fascination
itself. Her delight in Geraldine's beauty
was almost infantine. She would gaze
upon her, as if spell-bound. Her manner,
always graceful and cordial, became
absolutely fond, and poor Geraldine had many
a twinge of conscience, in remembering
that her mistrust and aversion, in relation
to the Lady of the Sea, had not abated one
atom.

On one occasion, Mon Port having to
undergo some necessary repairs, Mrs.
Magniac, at the instance of the colonel,
seconded, with less entreaty, by his daughter,
passed several days at Mon Désir. She
was accompanied by her remarkable
attendant, La Pareuse.

The attachment of this creature to her
mistress knew no bounds. It resembled a
monomania. She appeared never to be
happy, never commonly at ease, out of her
presence. It was with difficulty she was
prevented, while at Mon Désir, bivouacking
at night outside her lady's chamber door.
In a word, this strange woman, as singular
in aspect as in mind (for she was in all
respects, except in colour, a genuine negro,
her complexion being of a ghastly bluish
white), had, to all appearance, no voluntary
being, her thought, will, conscience, aims,
being thoroughly absorbed in, and yielded
up to, that world-- her mistress. But her
great delight was the latter's toilette. La
Pareuse would dress and deck her, as if the
very lives of both depended on the final
result. Mrs. Magniac had to apologise for
the time expended in this manner, and for
the foible of her maid.

"I am nothing but a great big doll, am
I?" she would say, blushing and smiling,
as she swam into the drawing-room,
perfected to a hair.

It would have been idle to deny that art
had a good deal to do with the matter.
La Pareuse was of unsocial disposition, and,
in the absence of her mistress from the
house, generally locked herself up in her
own room. Grinding, splashing, and
gurgling had been heard within, and it was
rumoured in the kitchen that the white
nigger was concocting mysterious washes,
&c., for the enhancement and perpetuation
of the beauty she held so dear.

This was no time of tranquillity to
Geraldine. She saw, with bitter regret—
saw far more distinctly than the colonel
himself—the tendency of Melusina's wiles,
and their growing influence upon his mind.
In proportion as the possibility of her
father's union with this woman became
more defined, so did her distrust and
detestation become more difficult to veil. More
than once, in conversation with the siren,
she had suffered words to escape her which
should have betrayed to the latter the dread
of such a result. The Lady of the Sea only
redoubled her smiles and caresses, and but
that Geraldine detected and captured a tell-
tale glance of confident triumph, she might
have brought herself to believe Mrs.
Magniac guiltless of any ulterior aim. This
one fatal look sufficed. Nor did it express
only the exultation of success. There was
in it entire consciousness of the antagonism
with which she had to deal.

Overcome with her misgivings, Miss
Fonnereau resolved to sound her father on
the subject, hoping yet to stem the current
of his fancy.

To her unspeakable comfort, the colonel
laughed heartily, and, pinching her cheek,
requested her to banish all suspicion that
Mon Désir was to receive any other mistress
than herself.