the other, he ambled towards his lordship on tiptoe, which happened just then to be the fashionable gait.

"Thy servant, Sir Harry"—my lord offered him his hand with condescension. "It warms my heart to see thee. Therefore I sent a letter. Briefly, Sir Harry, wouldst do me a service?"

"I am always at your lordship's commands. This, I hope, I have proved."

"Then, Sir Harry, this is the case. It is probable that for certain private reasons, I may have to pay a visit to a country town—a town of tarpaulins and traders, not a town of fashion"—Sir Harry shuddered—"patience, my friend. I know not how long I shall endure the barbaric company. But I must go—there are reasons—let me whisper—reasons of state—important secrets which call me there"—Sir Harry smiled and looked incredulous—"I want, on the spot, a friend"—Sir Harry smiled again, as one who began to understand—"a friend who would appear to be a stranger. Would you, therefore, play the part of such a friend?"

"I will do whatever your lordship commands. Yet to leave town at this season"—it was then the month of April—"the assembly, the park, the card table—the society of the ladies——"

"The loss will be theirs, Sir Harry. To lose their old favourite—oh! there will be lamentations, at the rout—— Perhaps, however, we may find consolations."

"Impossible. There are none out of town, except at Bath or Tunbridge——"

"The ladies of Norfolk are famous for their beauty."

"Hoydens—I know them,