"But, Sir Sedley, I assure you that you are mistaken, I thoroughly enjoy
myself; and have I not heard even you confess that one may be idle and
not happy?"

"I did not confess that till I was on the wrong side of forty!" said Sir
Sedley, with a slight shade on his brow. "Nobody would ever think you
were on the wrong side of forty!" said I, with artful flattery, winding
into my subject. "Miss Trevanion, for instance?"

I paused. Sir Sedley looked hard at me, from his bright dark-blue eyes.
"Well, Miss Trevanion for instance?"

"Miss Trevanion, who has all the best-looking fellows in London round
her, evidently prefers you to any of them."

I said this with a great gulp. I was obstinately bent on plumbing the
depth of my own fears.

Sir Sedley rose; he laid his hand kindly on mine, and said, "Do not let
Fanny Trevanion torment you even more than her father does!"

"I don't understand you, Sir Sedley."

"But if I understand you, that is more to the purpose. A girl like Miss
Trevanion is cruel till she discovers she has a heart. It is not safe
to risk one's own with any woman till she has ceased to be a coquette.
My dear young friend, if you took life less in earnest, I should spare
you the pain of these hints. Some men sow flowers, some plant trees:
you are planting a tree under which you will soon find that no flower
will grow. Well and good, if the tree could last to bear fruit and give