counsel. Remember, Margaret, that I am more than twenty years your senior; I know the troubles of early womanhood. Oh, my dear, a girl of eighteen, spirited, impulsive, and orphaned as you are, with no father to protect, no mother to guide, no home to which you really have a claim, is placed in a position where she may be assailed by countless dangers to which girls who are more happily situated are strangers. I know what it is to fight my own way in the world; I know what it is to be wilfully misconstrued, to be causelessly, cruelly suspected: and I feel for you, Margaret, and I fear for you?-for your nature is a more daring one than mine; and you do not make God your guide, your ruler-you do not commit your way to Him. Very soon you will have no friend in this house save Gussie, a child who cannot help you; for I shall soon be gone."

I melted into tears as I listened to that gentle voice; and humbly and heartily I begged my kind friend to forgive all the petulances, all the waywardness of which I had been guilty ever since I first became her pupil. Losing Holly, I should indeed lose a most invaluable friend. There were the Norths, certainly, as true and as dependable as Holly: but then they were not always at hand; neither were they in a position to judge so accurately in every possible case of dilemma, because they could only gather the facts as I reported them; and I felt that it would be out of my power to convey to them the exact impressions they would have received had they been hearers and eye-witnesses of what actually transpired. In difficulties so complicated as mine promised to be, there are always many delicate little points a thorough understanding of which one cannot convey to an absent friend in words. What, on repetition, seem mere trifles, often turn out to be the very hinge on which rests the most important changes. The Norths would do their best, and they were wise as well as good people; but still they would not be with me, knowing all the antecedents and all the sequences of every case as Holly did.

Two days afterwards my uncle and Mrs. Crofton called on Mr. Saunderson. Two days more, and I was told that he

and Gilbert were coming to dine, and that I was to form one of the party; and in the evening Sibyl came to me and said, "You have no proper dinner-dress, Margaret-you can't come down in a high frock and long sleeves. I am going to buy myself a new dress for next Thursday, and you shall have one exactly like it!"

If she had told me she would buy a rope wherewith to hang me, I think I should have been rather less surprised; and the more I reflected on this sudden change of tactics, the more uneasy I became. What did it all mean, and how would it end? Not well for me, I was well assured, if Sibyl carried out her plans, whatever they might be.

CHAPTER XXVI.

MY FIRST DINNER-PARTY.

SIBYL was as good as her word: she went out shopping next morning, and, when she returned, she came straight to the school-room, where I was sitting still perplexing myself about the very unexpected course things seemed taking,and graciously enough informed me that the purchase of my new dress was un fait accompli. I thanked her, and very naturally asked her what sort of dress it was. "A lama,"

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was her reply; the very finest texture, and the most delicate shade I ever saw. There were two embroidered muslins the young man wanted me to take; but I decided. for the lamas the moment I beheld them. They are in the dressmaker's hands already,—I went round to Madame's at once; and one of her people will come up to-night to try them on.". I felt so bewildered that I thought I must be dreaming. Sibyl taking all this trouble for me !-it was inexplicable,— a mystery of mysteries! Then I inquired what colour my new robe might be.

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'Blue,” she answered complacently," the loveliest blue. A perfect azure with a sort of bloom upon it. I have plenty of lace for trimming both the dresses."

Now, blue suited Sibyl exactly: it harmonized with her

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fair complexion, and golden locks, and her violet-coloured eyes;—such a dress would set her off to the best advantage; for white now made her look old and haggard, and pink and neutral tints for her were out of the question. Decidedly blue was Sibyl's colour: but not mine: it made me look hideous. I, with my dark skin and hair, wanted white or black only, relieved with pink or amber; and yet, what could I say? Was she doing this of malice prepense, or was she merely thoughtless, selfishly absorbed in her own appearance, and altogether careless about mine? However, I did not like to seem ungrateful, so I thanked Sibyl again; but I suppose there was something hesitating in my tone, for she inquired, "Are you not contented ?"

I replied, "I am thinking whether pale blue will not make my swarthy skin look darker even than it is."

66 Nonsense. Your skin is not swarthy. Gussie is swarthy if you like; but your complexion is a clear olive. Anything suits dark women; it is we fair girls who are obliged to be particular, if we would not frighten people. And I will lend you my turquoise brooch and bracelet. shall wear my pearl set.

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I said no more, and resigned myself to my fate; but the next morning Madame herself made her appearance, and we had to undergo the operation of "trying on." Madame was a clever little Frenchwoman, with wonderfully keen perceptions, with a perfect taste as modiste, and endowed with a sort of tact that was near akin to cunning. She fitted on Sibyl's bodice; and certainly it was exquisite, both in shape and in hue: and Sibyl herself, with the flush of gratified vanity on her cheek, and the light of excitement in her eye, looked once more very charming.

But when it came to my turn, Madame no longer flattered, but began to criticise. "Mais, mademoiselle, this dress of blue is not conformable for you. You have very beaux yeux, but they are dark like the night, and your tint is brun,— vairy brun. It is a tint I much approve, but not with a bleu si délicate for the robe; it will make you look not at all preety, mademoiselle. Bah! it will spoil you! You could

wear now the couleurs vairy rich, par exemple, rose, or coquelicot, or abricot, or black lace with those full couleurs, chère Mademoiselle Marguerite, or white muslin worked with gold, or—"

"That will do," cried Sibyl, haughtily. "Madame, my cousin and I have not time this morning to listen to one of your elaborate lectures on dress. Try on Miss Torrington's bodice, and you can write down your little remarks when you go home, and send them to Le Follet. Let it be enough that on this occasion I wish my cousin and myself to be dressed alike."

Madame darted a curious look at Sibyl and another at me, but she made a profound curtsey, and held her peace. Her little black eyes twinkled with something very like amusement; but she could not refrain herself when, having "fitted me on," she surveyed her handiwork, and beheld what she called "such a very hideous combination."

"I will have no pleasure at all in this dress," she burst out. "It can never be to me a work of art; for in the very commencement it is in vairy beastly taste!"

Whereat we both laughed. Madame always translated her own bétise into "beastly:" her medley of good French and most indifferent English was often very entertaining.

In process of time, however, our dresses came home, both elegantly trimmed, and fitting perfectly: but when on the Thursday evening I came to put mine on, I wished with all my heart I could find some adequate excuse for not wearing it. It made me look ill and sallow, and the turquoise ornaments only increased the bad effect. In addition to the brooch and bracelet, Sibyl had produced a wreath of turquoise forget-me-nots, which I was to wear in my hair; but I cast them aside after a single glance, and decided that I would not disfigure myself any more than I could help. Gussie came in as I was finishing my toilet, and she exclaimed, "You don't look nice at all, Margaret! What is the matter with you? Your dress is just like Sib's, and she is looking lovely-like a fairy-queen! I have just been to her room."

"What suits Sibyl does not suit me, Gussie.”

"To be sure not; I see now. And, Margaret,-I shouldn't wonder if she knew it all the time, and meant to spite you. I think she wished to make you look badly. Don't wear the thing."

"I must, Gussie; she has taken so much trouble about it. It is the first kindness she has ever shown me, and if I reject it, what will be the consequences ?"

"Never mind the consequences; she cannot drown you, as she drowned the cat! And she does not mean it for a kindness; I am sure she does not. I am only a little girl, but I know things. Margaret, dear, don't wear it: put on your white spotted muslin, and wear your rose-coloured ribbons, and I will get you some real flowers for your hair." "But my white muslin is high, and it has long sleeves." "So much the better. I hate Sib's bare arms and skinny neck: : your arms are round enough, and your neck-bones do not all show, like hers. But you will look a great deal nicer with sleeves down to your wrists, and a little lace quilling round your throat. Margaret, you shall not go down in that blue thing!"

I am not sure now, whether Gussie in her vehemence, trampled accidentally on the skirt of my troublesome new robe, or whether she resorted to one of her old mischievous expedients: but she set her foot firmly on the bottom of the dress, and, as I drew back at that moment, very quickly a terrific rent was the result.

There," she cried, triumphantly; "you cannot wear it now, and there is no time to mend it." Indeed, there was not, for the delicate fabric was so frayed that it would require many careful stitches for its reparation. I cannot say I was sorry, but I felt sure that Sibyl's displeasure would fall on me rather than on the real offender.

"Take it off!" cried Gussie, exultingly, unfastening hooks and loops with marvellous rapidity; "I'll reach out the spotted muslin. There! put it on as quickly as you can, and I will go and see about the flowers." She came back with a single, soft white moss rose, nestling