mastered the whole case.

"Let me know in

a word what it is you have to ask from me.” "In one word, then," answered Bellstar; "it is time!"

"I might have anticipated your answer,' replied the capitalist. "It is the request which every man, however inevitable his ruin, invariably prefers. Time, Sir," he said rudely, "is the fool's providence. Thoughtless men look only to the day, and imagine some great advantage is gained if they can contrive to rub through it."

Bellstar was mortified, but he preserved his temper

"It is not for me," he replied, "to defend improvidence, feeling its evils so bitterly as I do; yet we have high authority for saying, that the evils of the day are sufficient for the day."

The answer irritated the millionnaire. "I cannot consent," he said, "to trust my property to the mercy of persons who think in that manner. There is nothing to be done, Mr. Bellstar, but to bring your estates to the hammer.'

These words, and the decisive tone in which they were spoken, humbled to the very dust the pride of the accomplished gentleman to

whom they were addressed. Naturally sanguine, he entertained strong hopes of being able to retrieve his affairs if time were afforded him; and he had private reasons for earnestly deprecating any exposure of his real position at that time, which he knew in the eyes of the world would be associated with shame and disgrace. Humbling himself, therefore, before his harsh creditor, he pleaded for delay with impassioned, with trembling eagerness. He drew the fairest pictures of his future prospects, spoke of his hope of diplomatic employment or political distinction, magnified the favourable intentions of his friends, and represented that he should be utterly undone should his estates be wrested from him.

Mr. Laneton was not deceived. He had been used to the same kind of solicitation, though not often so earnestly and eloquently expressed. Nothing hardens the heart like continued importunity. He was deaf to its voice; but, as a matter of policy, he encouraged it, because the more urgent it became, the better terms for himself he was usually able to impose. He hinted that, in the event of his compliance, Bellstar must submit to whatever conditions he judged it ex

pedient to propose, and at last dismissed him in that temper which is worse even than despair, as it affords expectation of some present ease, to be purchased by aggravated suffering hereafter.

"I must tie him up fast," said Mr. Laneton as he locked up his escritoire," and then see whether a sale or a trust"-he was rather partial to trusts-"will be most advantageous. Really such unprincipled people are not fit to have the management of their own And now for Una!"

concerns.

CHAPTER XVIII.

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's fair, and all that's bright,
Meet in her aspect and her eyes.

BYRON.

The power to curse, the power to bless,

And proudest hearts to bow

In all surpassing loveliness,

Were throned upon her brow.

THERE is a strip of green turf on the south bank of the Serpentine, which on some days in summer is thrown open to equestrians. Here, in the season, towards five or six o'clock, if the weather be fine, crowds of horsemen and horsewomen turn in from Rotten Row, and cantering their spirited horses on the turf, beneath the shade of overhanging boughs, present one of the most animated scenes to be any where found in Europe. On days when the band plays in Kensington Gardens, the throng is always a

little thicker. While waltzes of Strauss, or airs from the Huguenots, are being performed, equestrians of both sexes congregate thickly in the broad road overlooking the gardens, and review at their leisure the gay groups which cluster round the band, or promenade the broad walks and leafy avenues. These, in their turn, can survey the dense mass of equestrians; gestures of recognition are frequently exchanged; every one can see how every one else is looking, and can at leisure criticize dress and appearance.

This spot is the great Exchange of fashion. It is here that beaus and belles "do mostly congregate," and carry on their commerce of gossip and pleasure. Here they revive the faded roses of their cheeks with fresh air and exhilarating exercise, and recruit spirits shaken by the night's dissipation. It is no wonder that the place and the amusement become more popular each year. For the ladies, it has all the charms of a public masquerade. In hat and habit, gracefully controlling the spirited animals on which they are mounted, and flying before the wind as they give them the rein, we scarcely recognise the delicate and fragile creatures, who have languidly gone through

VOL. I.