suffered from the spectacle of his divided allegiance, and it suggested to her a truly malignant revenge. A brilliant political mission, for a particular purpose, was about to be despatched to a neighboring government, and half a dozen young men of eminence were to be attached to it. The Countess had influence at court, and without saying anything to Benvolio, she immediately urged his claim to a post, on the ground of his distinguished services to literature. She pulled her wires so cleverly that in a very short time she had the pleasure of presenting him his appointment, on a great sheet of parchment, from which the royal seal dangled by a blue ribbon. It involved an exile of but a few weeks, and to this, with her eye on the sequel of her project, she was able to resign herself. Benvolio's imagination took fire at the thought of spending a month at a foreign court, in the very hotbed of consummate diplomacy; this was a phase of experience with which he was as yet unacquainted. He departed, and no sooner had he gone than the Countess, at a venture, waited upon Scholastica. She knew she was poor, and she believed that in spite of her homely virtues she would not, if the opportunity was placed in a certain light, prove implacably indisposed to better her fortunes. She knew nothing of the young girl's contingent expectations from her uncle, and her interference, at this juncture, was simply a remark-
