Eight and forty hours elapsed, and the evening of the ball arrived. Alicia and Jules sat at their dessert; and, as the wind whistled, and the sleet beat against the windows, both wished that they were not compelled to abandon their cheerful and happy fireside to mingle in scenes which no longer possessed any attractions for them.

"I never felt so reluctant to leave home, dearest Jules," said Alicia, "as I do this evening."

"And I, also," he replied, "would infinitely prefer the society of our own household gods, and your comfortable bergères, to my aunt's splendid salons, and all her gay company. But, hélas! we must go; and you, dearest, must do honour to the ball by wearing your diamonds, the ornaments to which I am least partial, because they are more calculated to excite the admiration of others, than

that of a husband. Consequently, I am more than half jealous of them-as I am, indeed, of all your grandes toilettes; for, in my opinion, they attract a too general attention. I like you best, Alicia, in your simple home-dress with the pink ribands (which I know are worn to please me), and when no other eye than mine can rest on your loveliness."

"And I, as you are well aware," Alicia replied, "dress only to please you, and am regardless of all other approbation.'

"Yet, I confess," resumed Jules, "that, when I see you the object of general admiration, I have not philosophy enough to resist feeling proud; though I should be less satisfied if you appeared elated by your triumph, for I should be disposed to jealousy if you were the least coquettishly inclined."

"No! nothing could make me believe that you could be jealous, dearest," said Alicia:

"but I am not so confident of myself; for I am sure that, if I saw you paying the same attention to any woman that some of the married men of our acquaintance do, I should be very miserable."

As she thus spoke, an expression of seriousness, almost amounting to pain, stole over her beautiful face.

"You will, then, never be miserable, dearest Alicia," replied Jules, kissing her cheek; "for I am as particular in my notions of what a husband's conduct ought to be, as I am scrupulous about a wife's. But," he added, as he looked at the pendule, "it is time to begin to dress. Would that the ball had ended, and that we were returned, to find, as we always do, that there is nothing like home."

You see, my dear Caroline, that I am attempting to fulfil the promise which I made in the commencement of my story; and am

serving up to you my facts in a most fictionlike shape. But I am not sure that I have not some talent for scribbling; and I am now, therefore, resolved to determine my surmise.

Never did Madame de St. Armand look more beautiful than on this evening; and, as I was present, I can give no dubious opinion on the subject. While she passed through the crowded suite of rooms, murmurs of approbation followed her. Her husband enjoyed the admiration she excited; and, as his aunt whispered into his ear that Alicia was the most brilliant ornament of her salons, he smiled a grateful assent.

The enemies of Madame de St. Armand were, of course, rendered doubly malicious by her pre-eminence; and even the unaffected modesty with which she seemed rather to shun than to court admiration, added to their hostility. Alicia was in conversation with a lady

whom her aunt had presented to her, when she heard her own name mentioned, and Madame de Fontanges repeat the preconcerted falsehood; every syllable of which fell on her ears as the death-knell of her happiness. She turned pale as marble, and was seized with a violent fit of trembling; but the necessity of concealing her emotion from her companion, was still predominant in her mind. The effort, however, to repress it, exceeded her strength; and she was almost sinking on the floor, when St. Armand approached her, and, placing her on a seat, sternly interrogated her as to the cause of her indisposition.

Never before had a word or a look verging upon severity been addressed to her by her husband; and the alteration in his manner struck the silly girl as a sort of confirmation of the statement she had heard. Her sufferings and agitation, consequently, increased to