abroad than at home, a refinement upon divorce, in which many a marriage in the great world is apt to end. One evening, strange to say, found husband and wife in their own drawing-room. Mme. d'Aiglemont had been dining at home with a friend, and the General, who almost invariably dined in town, had not gone out for once. "There is a pleasant time in store for you, _Madame la Marquise_," said M. d'Aiglemont, setting his coffee cup down upon the table. He looked at the guest, Mme. de Wimphen, and half-pettishly, half- mischievously added, "I am starting off for several days' sport with the Master of the Hounds. For a whole week, at any rate, you will be a widow in good earnest; just what you wish for, I suppose.--Guillaume," he said to the servant who entered, "tell them to put the horses in." Mme. de Wimphen was the friend to whom Julie had begun the letter upon her marriage. The glances exchanged by the two women said plainly that in her Julie had found an intimate friend, an indulgent and invaluable confidante. Mme. de Wimphen's marriage had been a very happy one. Perhaps it was her own happiness which secured her devotion to Julie's unhappy life, for under such circumstances, dissimilarity of destiny is nearly always a strong bond of union. "Is the hunting season not over yet?" asked Julie, with an indifferent glance at her husband. "The Master of the Hounds comes when and where he pleases, madame. We are going boar-hunting in the Royal Forest." "Take care that no accident happens to you." "Accidents are usually unforeseen," he said, smiling. "The carriage is ready, my Lord Marquis," said the servant. "Madame, if I should fall a victim to the boar--" he continued, with a suppliant air. "What does this mean?" inquired Mme. de Wimphen. "Come, come," said Mme. d'Aiglemont, turning to her husband; smiling at her friend as if to say, "You will soon see." Julie held up her head; but as her husband came close to her, she swerved at the last, so that his kiss fell not on her throat, but on the broad frill about it. "You will be my witness before heaven now that I need a firman to obtain this little grace of her," said the Marquis, addressing Mme. de Wimphen. "This is how this wife of mine understands love. She has