parties in Leichardt's Town, and whose husband was a stock and station agent; two or three of the neighbouring squatteresses, several young ladies, rivals of Elsie as popular belles, who came in from the verandah when the Gage party appeared. Lady Horace's marriage had produced a certain access of cordiality in the manner of the Leichardfs Town dames, especially now that it was known that Lord and Lady Waveryng were coming out, and would be guests at Government House during the time of the Prince's visit. Formerly Mrs. Valliant and her pretty daughters had only been admitted on sufferance into the more select circle of Leichardt's Town society, and this gave Elsie Valliant's manner a dash of defiance as she acknowledged their greetings. The girl was full of hatred and malice—at least so she told Ina—and it flashed through her mind that there might be some great person in the Prince's suite who would fall in love with her and marry her, and that she might revenge herself on these second rate people for all their slights. She was an undeveloped creature, this poor Elsie. There was nothing very great in her, or very noble. She was full of meannesses and littlenesses and jealousies, for which she despised herself in her more exalted moments, but there had never come anything into her life to call forth higher sentiments. She sometimes fancied that if such thing did come she, too, could prove herself heroic. Ina was better than she. No one acknowledged that more readily than Elsie. But then Ina had not been the idol of a foolish mother, and Ina had never been a beauty.
Elsie had never looked more lovely than she did that evening when she went into the drawing-room dressed for dinner. She and Ina had spent some time in the concoction of the costume, and then Elsie had had a fit of penitence, and had insisted on making something lovely for Ina, too. It struck Elsie that Ina seemed shy and agitated, and she wondered if Lord Horace had been cross. Now that the blush of the honeymoon was over, Lord Horace had fits of downright crossness. And Lord Horace was certainly selfish and exacting. He made his wife do things
