tinued Lady Anne, "that we were talking of her wedding-dresses."
"Are they to be very splendid?" asked Henrietta.
"Oh no," returned her companion; "simple and elegant. Fortunately, Mary's style suits simplicity. I cannot afford much expence—when she is Lady Allerton, she can be as extravagant as she pleases."
A short pause ensued in the conversation, which was broken by Miss Aubrey saying, "I was so much interested, yesterday, at dinner, with Lord Allerton's account of the cottages that he is building! I do not wonder that a man of his wealth should prefer living in the country, where he may do so much good, and be so beloved. Then the country in England is beautiful."
Lady Anne looked at the speaker with equal surprise and scorn. "I cannot," interrupted her lady ship, "be too thankful that Mary has none of your nonsensical notions—doing good, and the beauties of the country!—what moral essay have you been reading this morning? But Mary knows what she marries Lord Allerton for."
"And," asked Henrietta, "what does she marry Lord Allerton for?"
"She marries him," replied Lady Anne, slowly, even solemnly, "for a house in town, an opera-box, and a diamond necklace."
"Three most unanswerable reasons," exclaimed Henrietta, in the most scornful tone she could assume.
