Belles and Ringers | Page 4

their attention. In the middle of this discussion came
a ring at the front door bell, immediately followed by the
announcement of the Misses Chipchase; and the rector's two daughters
entered the room, accompanied, to Lady Mary's horror, by one of the
most piquant and brilliant brunettes she had ever set eyes on.

"So glad to see you down again, dear Lady Mary," said Miss Chipchase,
"and with a house full too! that's so nice of you; just in time to assist at
all our Easter revelries. Let me introduce you to my cousin, Sylla
Chipchase, just come down to spend a month with us." And then the
rector's daughters proceeded to shake hands with Blanche and Captain
Bloxam, and be by them presented to the remainder of the party.
Pansey Cottrell could scarce refrain from laughing outright as he
advanced to shake hands with Sylla Chipchase, the identical young
lady whom he had met last autumn in Suffolk, and who had now turned
up at Todborough, looking more provokingly pretty than ever. He had
caught one glance of his hostess's face; and, behind the scenes as he
was, that had been so nearly too much for his risible faculties that he
dared not hazard another. As he advanced to shake hands with Miss
Sylla, he felt that the Fates had been even more unkind to Lady Mary
than she could as yet be possibly aware of; for he remembered at
Hogden's that Miss Sylla had not only been voted the belle of a party
containing two or three very pretty women, but had also enchanted the
men by her fun, vivacity, and singing. Poor Lady Mary! it was hard, in
spite of all her efforts to secure a clear field, to find her daughter
suddenly confronted by such a formidable rival.
"We meet again, you see, Miss Sylla," said Cottrell, as they shook
hands. "I told you in Suffolk, if you remember, that in my ubiquity I
was a person very difficult to see the last of."
"And who that had ever met Mr. Cottrell would wish to have seen the
last of him?" replied the young lady gaily. "We had great fun together
in Suffolk, and I hope we are going to have great fun together in
Fernshire. My cousins tell me there are no end of balls and dances to
come off in the course of the next ten days."
"Dear me!" replied Mr. Cottrell, his eyes twinkling with the fun of the
situation. "This is all very well for you country people, Miss Sylla; but
we poor Londoners have come down for rest after a spell of hot rooms
and late hours, preparatory to encountering fresh dissipations. Is it not
so, Lady Mary? Did you not promise me quiet and country air, with a
dash of the salt water in it?"

"Of course," was the reply; "we have come down here to recruit."
"Oh, but, Lady Mary, you will never shut yourself up and turn recluse,"
returned the elder Miss Chipchase. "You must come to the
Commonstone ball on Easter Monday; you will all come, of course. I
quite count upon you, Captain Bloxam."
"Perfectly right, Miss Chipchase," replied the dragoon, with a glance of
unmistakable admiration at the new importation. "Did you ever know
me fail you in valsing? and are not the soldiers of to-day every bit as
much 'all there' as the sailors of yore, whenever England generally, or
Commonstone in particular, expects that every man this night will do
his duty?"
"Ah, yes," replied Miss Chipchase, "I recollect our trying to valse to
'God save the Queen;' but we could make nothing out of it. And you,
Mr. Bloxam,--you are bound to be there. Remember you engaged me
for 'Sir Roger de Coverley,' for the next dance we met at, last Christmas
Eve."
"I don't forget, Laura," laughed the Squire; "only you really must
moderate the pace down the middle this time."
"And then," continued the voluble young lady, "they have got a big
lunch at the camp, with athletic sports afterwards, on Tuesday, for
which you will, of course, receive cards."
"There is nothing like rural retirement for rest and quietness," observed
Pansey Cottrell, dryly.
"My dear Laura," interposed Lady Mary, "your tongue is running away
with you. I have told you we have come down here for a little quiet. I
am very glad, for your sake, that you have so much gaiety going on; but
I am afraid you will have to excuse us taking part in it."
"Now, really that is too bad of you, Lady Mary," returned Miss
Chipchase. "You are always so kind," she continued, dropping her
voice; "and you know what a difference it makes to us to be able to join

the Todborough party. With my cousin