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 hand herself, merely to regulate it to the best advantage; adding, "You shall see, now, the surprise I had prepared for you, if that blabbing old cousin of mine had not told you every thing before hand."

Then, in a tone of perfectly restored self-complacency, she produced a packet, and, with a parading look, that said, See what I bestow upon you! ostentatiously spread its contents upon a table.

"Now," she cried, "Miss Ellis, I hope I shall have the good fortune to please you! see what a beautiful gown I have bought you!"

The gown was a sarcenet of a bright rose-colour; but its hue, though the most vivid, was pale to the cheeks of Ellis, as she repeated, "A gown, Madam? Permit me to ask—for what purpose?"

"For what purpose?—To sing at our concert, you know! It's just the thing you want the most in the world. How could you possibly do without it, you know, when you come to appear before us all in public?"