single-heartedly for that; but I _am_ sad when I see you leaving
us to go where you are not prized."

"Indeed, aunt, I am prized at Font Abbey. I am overrated there as I am
here. They all receive me with open arms."

"So is a hare when it comes into a trap," said Mrs. Bazalgette,
sharply, drawing upon a limited knowledge of grammar and field-sports.

"No--Uncle Fountain really loves me."

"As much as I do?" asked the lady, with a treacherous smile.

"Very nearly," was the young courtier's reply. She went on to console
her aunt's unselfish solicitude, by assuring her that Font Abbey was
not a solitude; that dinners and balls abounded, and her uncle was
invited to them all.

"You little goose, don't you see? all those invitations are for your
sake, not his. If we could look in on him now we should find him
literally in single cursedness. Those county folks are not without
cunning. They say beauty has come to stay with the beast; we must ask
the beast to dinner, so then beauty will come along with him.

"What other pleasure awaits you at Font Abbey?"

"The pleasure of giving pleasure," replied Lucy, apologetically.

"Ah! that is your weakness, Lucy. It is all very well with those who
won't take advantage; but it is the wrong game to play with all the