fascinate; and, hitherto, the silence of his pretty companion had been any thing but nattering to his vanity; but, in one of his many attempts at conversation, he chanced to mention the part of the country in which Granard Park was situated; and Mary could never resist an inquiry about the dear old place. The duke immediately remembered much more than he had observed.
At that moment the gold cups were moved, and Lord Allerton looked towards them. Small things are the hinges on which great events turn! When we trace to their source the most important circumstances of our life, in what trifles have they originated!—a look, a word, are the ministers of fate.
Poor Mary found the dinner very long, but the evening was yet longer; the duke resumed his place at her side, and Lord Allerton took his by Miss Aubrey. Henrietta was looking her best, and was in brilliant spirits, and her companion was surprised to find how much he was entertained.
A still more agreeable surprise awaited him; he was passionately fond of music, and he found that Henrietta sang. Overdone as he had been with singing young ladies, it appeared to him a most astonishing fact, that he could have lived for a week in the house with a girl possessing such an accomplishment, who had not produced it for his especial benefit.
Henrietta was a first-rate musician, and it was extraordinary how their taste coincided; she sang all his
