"I didn't even allude to the topic," replied he, half testily.

"These things are not to be done in that hasty fashion; they require management, discretion, and a fitting opportunity, too."

"Why, you talk of your grocer's boy as if he were a Cabinet Minister, Mr. Martin; you treat him like a great diplomatist!"

"It was not exactly on the first occasion of his being in my house that I could have broached the matter."

"Which implies that you mean to invite him again."

"Possibly!" was the abrupt rejoinder.

"And must the odious attorney always be of the party?"

"No, madam, the odious attorney has set out for Dublin; but I shortly expect here one whom your Ladyship will, doubtless, call an odious lawyer,--though he happens to be one of the foremost men of the Irish bar."

"A cla.s.s I detest," said her Ladyship.

"He has one consolation, at least, madam," said Martin; "he figures in a pretty long category."

"And why should he not, sir? What have I ever met in the dreary eighteen years and seven months I have pa.s.sed here, except unmitigated self-conceit, vulgarity, and presumption,--the very type of all three being your Dublin barrister."

"Their countrymen certainly entertain another estimate of them," said Martin, laughing, for he had a lazy man's enjoyment of any pa.s.sionate excitement of another's temper.

"And it was," resumed she, "in some sort the contrast presented to such which pleased me in that young man's manner yesterday. Not but I feel a.s.sured that erelong you and Miss Martin will spoil him."

"I! aunt?" said Mary, looking up from her work; "how am I to exercise the evil influence you speak of?"

"By the notice--the interest you vouchsafe him, Miss Martin,--the most flattering compliment to one in his station."

"If he bears collegiate honors so meekly, aunt," said Mary, quietly, "don't you think his head might sustain itself under _my_ attentions?"

"Possibly so, young lady, if not accompanied by the accessories of your rank in life," said Lady Dorothea, haughtily; "and as to college honors," added she, after a pause, "they are like school distinctions, of no earthly value out of the cla.s.s-room."

"Faith, I don't know that," said Martin. "At least, in my own experience, I can say, every fellow that has made a figure in life gave indications of high ability in his college years. I could go over the names of at least a dozen."

"Pray don't, sir,--spare your memory, and spare us. Miss Martin and I will take it for granted that this young man is destined to be Lord Chancellor,--Amba.s.sador at St. Petersburg,--or anything else you please.

I have no doubt that the time is approaching when such things are very possible."

"It has come already, my Lady," said Martin; and in the manner he uttered the words there was no saying whether the sentiment was pleasurable or the reverse.

"And yet I trust that there is a little interval still left to us ere that consummation," said she, with pretentious dignity. "Birth and blood have not lost all their _prestige!_"

"But they soon would," said Mary, "if they feared to enter the lists against those less well-born than themselves."

"Miss Martin!" exclaimed her Ladyship, "what words are these?"

"I hope they are void of offence, aunt. a.s.suredly I never conceived that I could wound any susceptibilities here by saying that the well-born are ready to meet the plebeian on any ground."

"There is no necessity for such trials, Miss Martin; the position of each has been so accurately defined by--by--by Providence," said she, at last, blushing slightly as she uttered the word, "that the contest is almost impossible."

"The French Revolution reveals another story, aunt, and tells us, besides, how inferior were the n.o.bles of that country in the day of struggle."

"Upon my word, these are very pretty notions, young lady. Have they been derived from the intelligent columns of the "Galway Monitor," or are they the teachings of the gifted Mr. Scanlan? a.s.suredly, Mr. Martin,"

said she, turning to him, "papa was right, when he said that the Irish nature was essentially rebellious."

"Complimentary, certainly," said Martin, laughing.

"He founded the remark on history. Papa was uncommonly well read, and used to observe that there seemed something in the Celtic nature incompatible with that high-souled, chivalrous loyalty Englishmen exhibit."

"But how much of the Celt have Mary and myself got in us, if your observation is meant for us? Why, my Lady, what with intermarriage centuries ago, and change of blood ever since, the distinctive element has been utterly lost."

"And yet we are not English, uncle," said Mary, with something that smacked of pride. "Confess it: we have our nationality, and that our people have traits of their own."

"That they have; but I never heard them made matter of boastfulness before," said Lady Dorothea, sneeringly.

"Well, aunt, it is not too late to hear it now; and I, for one, am proud of my country,--not of its political station, for it is dependent,--not of its wealth, for it is poor,--but of its genial courtesy, its free-hearted hospitality, its manly patience under many a crushing calamity, and not least of all, its gallantry on every field where England has won honor."

"I have read of all these things; but my own experiences are limited to the rags and restlessness of a semi-barbarous people. Nay, Miss Martin, I'm not going to discuss the matter. I have lived elsewhere,--you have not. I have acquired habits--prejudices, perhaps you 'd call them--in behalf of twenty things that Irish civilization sees no need of."

"Would it not be kind, aunt, were you to aid us by the light of these same experiences?" said Mary, with an air of well-a.s.sumed humility.

"Certainly not, at the price of intercourse with the natives!" exclaimed her Ladyship, haughtily. "I detest, on principle, the Lady Bountiful character. The whole of the hymn-book, castor-oil, and patent-barley sympathy is shockingly vulgar. Like many things, well done at first, it fell into low hands, and got spoiled."

The tone of sarcasm in which this was spoken made Mary's cheeks crimson, and the flush spread itself over her neck. Still she made no reply, but bending down her head, continued to work more a.s.siduously.

"When are we to leave this place, Mr. Martin?" asked her Ladyship, abruptly.

"I believe we are only waiting here till it be your pleasure to quit."

"And I dying to get away this fortnight past! Some one certainly told me that Cro' Martin was not ready for us. Was it _you_, Miss Martin?"

"No, aunt."

"It ran in my head it was you, then. Well, can we go at once--to-day--this afternoon?"

"To-morrow we might, perhaps," said Mary.

"Scarcely so," said Martin, interposing, "seeing that I have asked Repton to come down here and see the place."

"But you can drive him over from Cro' Martin. It would be intolerable, the idea of remaining here just for him. So we shall go to-morrow, Miss Martin." And with this, uttered in the tone of an order, her Ladyship swept proudly out of the room, from which Martin, not overanxious for a _tete-a-tete_ with his niece, stepped noiselessly at the same moment by another door.

Scarcely had the door closed behind Lady Dorothea, when it was reopened to admit Joe Nelligan, who had met her Ladyship in the corridor and been received with such palpable coldness of manner that he entered the room bashful and awkward, and hardly knowing whether to advance or retire.

"I fear I have made my visit at an untimely hour, Miss Martin," said he, blushing; "but the truth is, I know next to nothing of society and its habits, and if you would only be kind enough to tell me when I am a transgressor--"

"The notion of learning from _me_ is perfect," said Mary, interrupting him with a pleasant laugh. "Why, Mr. Nelli-gan, I never could be taught anything, even of the most ordinary rules of ceremonial life! though,"

added she, slyly, "I have lived certainly in the midst of great opportunities."

"But then, I have not," said Nelligan, gravely, and accepting the speech in all seriousness. "Well, it comes pretty much to the same thing," said she, smiling, "since I have profited so little by them."