hedgerows, towards the residence of his
charming Phillis.

When he arrived at the Hall, he expected
to find her on the lawn.  When he was
ushered into the house, he expected to find
her in the drawing-room. Mrs. Ogleton had
gone out, he was told, and Miss Phillis also;
but they had both left word they would soon
be back.

"Was I expected at this hour, do you
know?" said Delamour to the footman.
That functionary was new to the establishment,
and was not acquainted with Mr.
Wormwood's person.

"Didn't a letter come this morning by
post?"  he inquired; "from London—pink
envelope—red seal—coat of arms?"

"Yes," replied the man; "from the hair-
dresser wasn't it?" he inquired, a little
doubtful, but not very, as to whether Mr.
Truefit's representative stood before him.

"What do you mean?" exclaimed Delamour,
"you insulting scoundrel!  I'm Mr.
Wormwood, and wrote to announce my
arrival."

"I humbly beg your pardon, sir; but Miss
Phillis didn't mention nobody but the barber,
and of course, sir, you see—but I'm very
sorry, I assure you, sir, and I hope you won't
allude to the mistake."

Delamour left the house and pursued his
way through the park. At the side of an
ornamental sheet of water, beyond a rising
knoll, he saw his adored Phillis. She had a
crook in her hand and a round hat on her
head, tastefully ornamented with flowers of
her own gathering. A close-fitting dress
revealed the matchless symmetry of her
figure; her petticoats were very short, and
her feet the smallest and prettiest in the
world. The shepherdess smiled when she
saw her lover, and blushed at being detected
in her festival attire.

"It is so pleasant to watch the sheep!" she
said. "Oh!  how I wish I had lived in the
days of rustic simplicities, when everybody
was so kind and innocent. It must have
been charming to fold in the flock when the
hot sun began to descend, and then to assemble
for a dance upon the grass—no etiquette,
no drawing-room false refinement."

"And Strephon?"  inquired Delamour with
a cloud beginning to darken his brow.

"Oh!  he would have been some gentle
villager,—some neighbouring farmer's son,
soft-voiced and musical; for, of course, he
would have sung, and played delightfully on
his oaten reed."

"You know, I suppose, Miss Daisyfield,
that I neither play nor sing; and, to tell you
the truth, I despise any one who does
either."

"But I am only painting a fancy scene,"
replied Phillis, alarmed at the sharpness of
his tone. "You didn't think I was serious,
Delamour?  I was a kind of actress for the
time, and thought I would speak in character."
So saying she threw away the crook and took
the wreath from her little straw-hat; "and
now,"  she continued, taking his arm and
turning homeward, "I will be as steady and
sensible as you please. Let us go in and see
my aunt."

Delamour brooded over the previous part
of the conversation. He didn't like the allusion
to Strephon, nor the rapture about pipes
and singing.

"The girl can't be altogether devoted to
me, or she wouldn't talk such nonsense about
dancing with shepherds on the grass. I am
no shepherd, and she knows that very well."

The aunt received them at the door.

"The post," she said to Phillis, "has just
brought me a letter from your brother. He
has been unexpectedly ordered to join his
head-quarters, at Neddithorpe, and arrived
there last night."

"Oh!  I'm so delighted!"  exclaimed
Phillis. "Dear Edward! when does he
come to see us? Oh! let us go to see him
at once!"

"He promises to be here to-morrow,"  said
Mrs. Ogleton in a cold tone, "and I should
like to see Mr. Wormwood for a few minutes
alone."

Mr. Wormwood had just resolved to ask
Phillis why she was in such rapture about
the return of her brother. Wasn't he, her
lover, by her side?  and yet she wished to
start away from him!  But he followed Mrs.
Ogleton into the drawing-room, and Phillis
saw, there was something wrong, but could
not tell what.

"The letter from Edward Daisyfield,"
began the lady, "is exceedingly unpleasant.
He tells me that he has long promised the
hand of his sister to one of his brother officers,
and he has received with great disapprobation
my announcement of your engagement."

"Indeed?" said Delamour, "and why?
What has he or any popinjay in the Blazers
to say against me?"

"Oh, nothing against you," replied the
lady; " for he never heard of you before.
All he says is, he prefers Captain Belford, and
refuses his consent to your suit."

"And does Phillis agree with him?"
inquired Mr. Wormwood.

"I have this moment got the letter,"
replied the lady, "and she knows nothing
about it. I have given my approval, you are
aware, Mr. Wormwood; but the decision, I
suppose, will lie with Phillis herself."

"It is a little too late, I should think, to
make it a matter of choice," said Delamour
bitterly. "I have announced my approaching
marriage to all my friends, and I won't be
made a fool of, by either brother or sister.—
Why, the world would laugh at me, and I
am not a man to be laughed at with
impunity."

"I never heard of Captain Belford,"  said
Phillis, when she was informed of her
brother's epistle. "I will have nothing to say