between young gentlemen and young ladies are dangerous things."
They then walked up to the hall door in silence. When they had reached it, Lucy stood in the doorway instead of entering it, and said, "Fanny, let us take another turn together, if you are not tired."
"No, I'm not tired."
"It will be better that I should understand you at once;" and then they again moved away from the house. "Tell me truly now, do you think that Lord Lufton and I have been flirting?"
"I do think that he is a little inclined to flirt with you."
"And Lady Lufton has been asking you to lecture me about it?"
Poor Mrs. Robarts hardly knew what to say. She thought well of all the persons concerned, and was very anxious to behave well by all of them—was particularly anxious to create no ill feeling, and wished that every body should be comfortable, and on good terms with every body else. But yet the truth was forced out of her when this question was asked so suddenly.
"Not to lecture you, Lucy," she said at last.
"Well, to preach to me, or to talk to me, or to give me a lesson—to say something that shall drive me to put my back up against Lord Lufton?"
"To caution you, dearest. Had you heard what she said, you would hardly have felt angry with Lady Lufton."
"Well, to caution me. It is such a pleasant thing for a girl to be cautioned against falling in love with a gentleman, especially when the gentleman is very rich, and a lord, and all that sort of thing!"
"Nobody for a moment attributes any thing wrong to you, Lucy."
"Any thing wrong—no. I don't know whether it would be any thing wrong, even if I were to fall in love with him. I wonder whether they cautioned Griselda Grantly when she was here? I suppose, when young lords go about, all the girls are cautioned as a matter of course. Why do they not label him 'dangerous?'" And then again they were silent for a moment, as Mrs. Robarts did not feel that she had any thing farther to say on the matter.
"'Poison' should be the word with any one so fatal as Lord Lufton; and he ought to be made up of some par-
