dancer in Valencia. She also teases most
agreeably."

So saying, I presented Hayward to the
señorita at the window, and being forthwith
invited to enter the house, we spent half an
hour in chatting and smoking cigarettes. We
then mounted, and after talking at one or two
other windows, finished our ride by a gallop
outside the town. On our return, though it
was nearly dark, I introduced Hayward to
Erminia, who seemed more than usually shy.
A few compliments passed, and we rode home
to dinner.

As we sat talking after our meal, I was
amused with Hayward's indirect attempts to
find out all he could about Erminia, and punished
him by giving the most laconic answers
possible; but seeing that at last he was getting
quite vexed, I told him all I knew about her.

"Her father," I said, "is a man of good
family, who has always sympathised with the
oligarchical party; consequently his estates,
which are large, have been laid waste, and
now bring in very little. Erminia's mother is
dead. She was the eldest of three daughters,
and inherited her father's estate, which has now
passed to Erminia, who has, by-the-by, a step-
mother in her mother's third sister. By this
second marriage there are several children,
while Erminia has no full brother or sister. It
is an odd thing that Erminia does not marry,
for last year she was acknowledged to be the
beauty of Valencia, and she has an estate which,
if properly cultivated, would bring in six
thousand dollars per annum. I believe the fact to
be that her mother's second sister, who is in a
convent, and is a most bigoted religieuse, wishes
Erminia to take the veil and bestow her
property on the convent. I am told this good
lady has been the means of breaking off more
than one engagement into which Erminia had
entered, and it is not unlikely that she will be
equally successful in putting an end to any
future love affair that her niece may have."

Hayward made no reply to this speech,
but flung the end of his cigar rather viciously
out of the window, and, by way of changing
the conversation, asked if Valencia was not
famous for its lace manufactory, and where
the best specimens could be procured. "To-
morrow," I said, "you shall see the place
where the finest things are made. It is at the
principal ladies' school. I have been there
once already, under the guidance of a Spanish
gentleman, who will be very glad to accompany
us to-morrow. We can also, while we are out,
pay a visit to the house of the celebrated
General Paez, which I myself have not yet seen.
The walls are covered with paintings of his
victories. To-morrow, at eleven, we will start."

Accordingly, next day after breakfast we
hoisted umbrellas with white covers as a
protection against the vertical sun, and crossing
the Gran' Plaza, found ourselves, after passing
a cuadra to the west of it, at the girls' school.
A number of the younger pupils were playing
in the verandah, which encircled the inner court.
There was a little whispering amongst them, but
no noise nor embarrassment; and one came
forward very politely and asked us to walk into
the drawing-room. Here we found the
schoolmistress, a lady about forty years of age, who
was still good looking, and who, from her quiet
self-possessed manner, seemed to be well fitted
to rule in such an establishment. She said she
had fifty pupils, and that the elder girls assisted
her in teaching the younger, and that was all
the aid she had in managing the school. We
were shown pieces of French cambric, from
which a number of threads had been drawn
out, so that they looked to me like the skeletons
of pocket-handkerchiefs. We were then
shown how the interstices thus made were
filled up with needlework, representing fruits,
flowers, and other devices. Rosa produced a
mouchoir she was finishing, which was declared
to be a miracle of art, and worked at it in our
presence. The stitches were so wonderfully fine
that our eyes ached in attempting to follow the
movements of her needle, but the schoolmistress
declared that Rosa never made a false stitch.
Hayward seemed very eager to possess this
handkerchief, and asked the price, and when it
could be got ready. He was told it would be
finished in two days, and was valued at fifty
dollars. On this, rather to my surprise, he
produced the money. I, too, made a few purchases,
and then took leave, not without a feeling of
regret that so many docile, clever girls should
have such scanty means of instruction.

We now walked on to the house of General
Paez. I was rather annoyed by Hayward's declining
to go in. I entered alone, and found I had
plunged into the most talkative family I had ever
encountered. In spite of the compliments of my
host and hostess, who praised my Spanish, and
seemed as if they were wishful to talk on for
ever, I managed to effect my retreat, and got
back to my house thoroughly tired. On entering,
I was rather surprised to find that Hayward
was not there, and still more so that he did not
return till it was time to ride. When he came
in, it struck me that something wrong had
happened, for his manner was changed, and, instead
of his usual good-humoured smile, he had a
depressed and moody look. I told him that there
was to be a party that night at Señora Ribera's,
and that we really must show ourselves, so as
to get an invitation. "Besides," I said,
"Antonia Ribera is now quite the reigning
beauty. I have not yet seen her, but I am told
she has dethroned Erminia; and of course you
would not like to leave Valencia without seeing
her!" Finding I was bent on it, Hayward
consented to call. "What is the matter with the
fellow?" thought I. "Is he going to have an
illness, or has he got into some scrape this afternoon,
while he was out by himself? I begin to
wish I had not asked him to pay me a visit."

The Señora Ribera was a widow, with three
daughters and one son. She had been a great
belle, and, though her charms had long since
faded, she had still the coquettish ways of a
spoiled beauty. Her children were all handsome,