his doctor, and the society of his blue-pill, and his live complaint, he must have died of loneliness. He was lazy peevish, and a bon-vivant; the appearance of a lady frightened him beyond measure; hence it was but seldom that he joined the paternal circle in Russell Square, where there was plenty of gaiety, and where the jokes of his goodnatured old father frightened his amour-propre. His bulk caused Joseph much anxious thought and alarm; now and then he would make a desperate attempt to get rid of his superabundant fat; but his indolence and love of good living speedily got the better of these endeavours at reform, and he found himself again at his three meals a day. He never was well dressed; but he took the hugest pains to adorn his big person, and passed many hours daily in that occupation. His valet made a fortune out of his wardrobe his toilet-table was covered with as many pomatums and essences as ever were employed by an old beauty he had tried, in order to give himself a waist, every girth, stay, and waistband then invented. Like most fat men, he would have his clothes made too tight, and took care they should be of the most brilliant colours and youthful cut. When dressed at length, in the afternoon, he would issue forth to take a drive with nobody in the Park; and then would come back in order to dress again and go and dine with nobody at the Piazza Coffeehouse. He was as vain as a girl; and perhaps his extreme shyness was one of the results of his extreme vanity. If Miss Rebecca can get the better of him, and at her first entrance into life, she is a young person of no ordinary cleverness.

The first move showed considerable skill. When she called Sedley a very handsome man, she knew that Amelia would tell her mother, who would probably tell Joseph, or who, at any rate, would be pleased by the compliment paid to her son. All mothers are. If you had told Sycorax that her son Caliban was as handsome as Apollo, she would have been pleased, witch as she was. Perhaps, too, Joseph Sedley would overhear the compliment-Rebecca spoke loud enough-and he did hear, and (thinking in his heart that he was a very fine man) the praise thrilled through every fibre of his big body, and made it tingle with pleasure. Then, however, came a recoil. Is the girl making fun of me?' he thought, and straightway he bounced towards

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the bell, and was for retreating, as we have seen, when his father's jokes and his mother's entreaties caused him to pause and stay where he was. He conducted the young lady down to dinner in a dubious and agitated frame of mind. Does she really think I am handsome?' thought he, or is she only making game of me?' We have talked of Joseph Sedley being as vain as a girl. Heaven help us! the girls have only to turn the tables, and say of one of their own sex, She is as vain as a man,' and they will have perfect reason. The bearded creatures are quite as eager for praise, quite as finikin over their toilets, quite as proud of their personal advantages, quite as conscious of their powers of fascination, as any coquette in the world.

Downstairs, then, they went, Joseph very red and blushing, Rebecca very modest, and holding her green eyes downwards. She was dressed in white, with bare shoulders as white as snow-the picture of youth, unprotected innocence, and humble virgin simplicity. 'I must be very quiet,' thought Rebecca, and very much interested about India.'

Now we have heard how Mrs. Sedley had prepared a fine curry for her son, just as he liked it, and in the course of dinner a portion of this dish was offered to Rebecca. What is it?' said she, turning an appealing look to Mr. Joseph. Capital,' said he. His mouth was full of it: his face quite red with the delightful exercise of gobbling.

it's as good as my own curries in India.

Mother, Oh, I must try some, if it is an Indian dish,' said Miss Rebecca. 'I am sure everything must be good that comes

From there.'

Give Miss Sharp some curry, my dear,' said Mr. Sedley, aughing.

Rebecca had never tasted the dish before.

Do you find it as good as everything else from India ? aid Mr. Sedley.

'Oh, excellent!' said Rebecca, who was suffering torures with the cayenne pepper.

Try a chili with it, Miss Sharp,' said Joseph, really nterested.

'A chili,' said Rebecca, gasping. 'Oh, yes!' She hought a chili was something cool, as its name imported, and was served with some. How fresh and green they ook,' she said, and put one into her mouth. It was hotter

than the curry; flesh and blood could bear it no longer She laid down her fork. Water, for Heaven's sake, water! she cried. Mr. Sedley burst out laughing (he was a coarse man, from the Stock Exchange, where they love all sorts of practical jokes). They are real Indian, I assure you, Sambo, give Miss Sharp some water.'

said he.

The paternal laugh was echoed by Joseph, who thought the joke capital. The ladies only smiled a little. They thought poor Rebecca suffered too much. She would have liked to choke old Sedley, but she swallowed her mortification as well as she had the abominable curry before it, and as soon as she could speak, said, with a comical goodhumoured air, I ought to have remembered the pepper which the Princess of Persia puts in the cream-tarts in the Arabian Nights. Do you put cayenne into your creamtarts in India, sir?'

Old Sedley began to laugh, and thought Rebecca was a good-humoured girl. Joseph simply said, 'Cream-tarts, miss? Our cream is very bad in Bengal. We generally use goats' milk; and, 'gad, do you know, I've got to prefer it?'

You won't like everything from India now, Miss Sharp,' said the old gentleman; but when the ladies had retired after dinner, the wily old fellow said to his son, Have a care, Joe; that girl is setting her cap at you.'

"Pooh! nonsense!' said Joe, highly flattered. 'I recollect, sir, there was a girl at Dumdum, a daughter of Cutler of the Artillery, and afterwards married to Lance, the surgeon, who made a dead set at me in the year '4-at me and Mulligatawney, whom I mentioned to you before dinner—a devilish good fellow Mulligatawney-he's a magistrate at Budgebudge, and sure to be in council in five years. Well, sir, the Artillery gave a ball, and Quintin, of the King's 14th, said to me, "Sedley," said he, "I bet you thirteen to ten that Sophy Cutler hooks either you or Mulligatawney before the rains." "Done," says I; and egad, sir-this claret's very good. Adamson's or Carbonell's ?-?

A slight snore was the only reply: the honest stockbroker was asleep, and so the rest of Joseph's story was lost for that day. But he was always exceedingly communicative in a man's party, and has told this delightful tale many scores of times to his apothecary, Dr. Gollop,

when he came to inquire about the liver and the bluepill.

Being an invalid, Joseph Sedley contented himself with a bottle of claret, besides his madeira at dinner, and he managed a couple of plates full of strawberries and cream, and twenty-four little rout cakes, that were lying neglected in a plate near him, and certainly (for novelists have the privilege of knowing everything), he thought a great deal about the girl upstairs. A nice, gay, merry young creature,' thought he to himself. How she looked at me when I picked up her handkerchief at dinner! She dropped it twice. Who's that singing in the drawing-room? 'Gad!

shall I go up and see??

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But his modesty came rushing upon him with uncontrollable force. His father was asleep his hat was in the hall there was a hackney-coach stand hard by in Southampton Row. 'I'll go and see the Forty Thieves,' said he, and Miss Decamp's dance;' and he slipped away gently on the pointed toes of his boots, and disappeared, without waking his worthy parent.

'There goes Joseph,' said Amelia, who was looking from the open windows of the drawing-room, while Rebecca was singing at the piano.

Miss Sharp has frightened him away,' said Mrs. Sedley. 'Poor Joe, why will he be so shy?

CHAPTER IV

THE GREEN SILK PURSE

OOR Joe's panic lasted for two or three days; during which he did not visit the house, nor during that period did Miss Rebecca ever mention his name. She was all respectful gratitude to Mrs. Sedley; delighted beyond measure at the bazaars; and in a whirl of wonder at the theatre, whither the goodnatured lady took her. One day, Amelia had a headache, and could not go upon some party of pleasure to which the two young people were invited: nothing could induce her friend to go without her. 'What! you who have shown the poor orphan what happiness and love are for the first time in her life-quit you? never!' and the green eyes looked up to Heaven and filled with tears; and Mrs. Sedley could not but own that her daughter's friend had a charming kind heart of her own.

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As for Mr. Sedley's jokes, Rebecca laughed at them with a cordiality and perseverance which not a little pleased and softened that good-natured gentleman. Nor was it with the chiefs of the family alone that Miss Sharp found favour. She interested Mrs. Blenkinsop by evincing the deepest sympathy in the raspberry-jam preserving, which operation was then going on in the housekeeper's room; she persisted in calling Sambo 'Sir', and 'Mr. Sambo ', to the delight of that attendant; and she apologized to the lady's maid for giving her trouble in venturing to ring the bell, with such sweetness and humility that the Servants' Hall was almost as charmed with her as the Drawing-room. Once, in looking over some drawings which Amelia had sent from school, Rebecca suddenly came upon one which caused her to burst into tears and leave the room. It was on the day when Joe Sedley made his second appearance. Amelia hastened after her friend to know the cause of this display of feeling, and the good-natured girl came back