"Barca Sahib! Barca Sahib !" screamed the chaprassys without. "Fortescue Sahib, Marshall Sahib, Montressor Sahib," announced the silver sticks in waiting, as the gentlemen mentioned presented themselves to make the compliments of the morning.

Mrs. Russell had made her unusual effort to receive the host of visitors who, she knew, would in attention to her, wait upon her new inmates; breakfast, generally speaking, being a public meal.

After the first interchange of visits had taken place between the ladies, there was little of what is called "morning visiting," as the weather still continued hot; but there were always stragglers at the tiffin table at two o'clock, and when Mr. and Mrs. Russell dined at home it was never without company; so that in the course of a few weeks the Miss Percys were fairly introduced into Calcutta society. They soon found that in Mrs. Russell's magnificent abode, with the exception of the hours spent with her in public, their time would be quite at their own disposal. In private she was little

seen; the reputation of an elegant letter-writer, which she had to support, and her extensive correspondence in consequence, prevented her from wishing to see them, except at public hours in public rooms. If a head-ache, or the slightest indisposition, prevented her from making herself as agreeable as she always chose to be, she remained invisible until her powers of pleasing were again at her command. Her déjeuner was almost always taken in her own dressingroom, where she remained "quiet," as she expressed it, until the hour before tiffin. None were permitted to disturb her leisure, with the exception of her husband, who regularly paid her a visit before going to court; and her milliner and jeweller were sometimes admitted by the private staircase to this place of rest. Mrs. Russell's was not the noisy, talking, bustling at tention to dress; with her every thing was got up in quietness behind the scenes, and though, perhaps, not without much time and trouble, was produced in society without the least ostentation, or seeming attention of the wearer. Thoroughly artificial, every thing about Mrs.

Russell was so perfectly arranged by the laws of good taste, that the requisite machinery was kept quite out of sight. Our poor friends, accustomed to the watchful interest of an affectionate mother, felt the change. Their residence, like the Empress of Russia's ice palace, was splendid, but it was cold; and they were anxious again to enjoy the society of their friend, Miss Hume, and talk with her of the new world which had opened upon their sight. It is true, they had often met since they came on shore, but then it was always in large dinner parties, where there was no opportunity of private con

versation.

Mrs. Russell, as she was upon visiting terms with Mrs. Dundas, had no objection to the Miss Percys' wish to spend a day with Miss Hume at the gardens, and as there was no particular engagement, the next day was fixed upon for that purpose. She gave orders that Mr. Russell's palanquin carriage should be in readiness to convey, and remain to bring them back at night.

CHAPTER VII.

La politesse est l'expression ou l'imitation des vertus sociales ; elle en est l'expression, si elle est vraie, et l'imitation, si elle est fausse ; et les vertus sociales sont celles qui nous rendent utiles et agréables à ceux avec qui nous avons à vivre.

DUCLOS.

ON a bright morning, after a heavy fall of rain, which had laid the dust, (a luxury which those who have been accustomed to brick-made roads, reduced to impalpable powder by the thousand wheels which roll over them, can alone imagine,) our friends got into the commodious palanquin carriage, constructed more for use than ornament, and drove off, as fast as a pair of tall, strong Persian greys could carry them, to Dr. Dundas's charming residence on the banks of the river. Those accustomed to London breakfast hours, would certainly be surprised to hear that at half-past seven in the morning, when Charlotte and Elizabeth turned in through Dr. Dundas's shrubbery, they found the lady of the

mansion and Flora standing in the shade of the portico ready to receive them.

This meeting was pleasant to all parties. Mrs. Dundas was prepared by Miss Hume to esteem the Miss Percys, whom she had once or twice met before; and received them with a frank cordiality which made them feel almost at home in her house. Her words, except in the sincerity with which they were spoken, differed little from what Mrs. Russell might have used, but irresistible truth forces its way when laboured polish fails. Mrs. Dundas was an amiable woman in the truest sense of the word; her motives of action, seated in the heart, and rooted in Christian principle, pervaded every action and feeling of her mind. An affectionate heart, clear judgment, great evenness of temper, genuine love of nature in all her varied forms, and a highly cultivated taste in art and literature, combined to render her a delightful companion, a valuable friend, and a beloved wife; "the nearest approach," as a celebrated writer has said, "which it is possible for woman to make towards happiness in this sublunary sphere."