He strove for some time patiently, to catch her eye, for she was so situated as to permit of this, but without success.  He then made a slight attempt to attract her attention by beckoning with his finger; all in vain.  “Oh murther,” said he, “what is this for?  I’ll have to spake afther all.”

“Four by honours,” said his lordship, “and the odd trick.  Another double, I believe, Miss O’Dowd.”

Miss O’Dowd nodded a graceful assent, while a sharp-looking old dowager at the side of the table called out, “a rubber of four on, my Lord;” and now began an explanation from the whole party at once.  Nicholas saw this was his time, and thought that in the melee, his hint might reach his mistress unobserved by the remainder of the company.  He accordingly protruded his head into the room, and placing his finger upon the side of his nose, and shutting one eye knowingly, with an air of great secrecy, whispered out, “Miss Betty—­Miss Betty, alanah!” For some minutes the hum of the voices drowned his admonitions—­but as, by degrees waxing warmer in the cause, he called out more loudly,—­every eye was turned to the spot from whence these extraordinary sounds proceeded; and certainly the appearance of Nicholas at the moment was well calculated to astonish the “elegans” of a drawing room.  With his one eye fixed eagerly in the direction of his mistress, his red scratch wig pushed back off his forehead, in the eagerness of his endeavour to be heard, there he stood, perfectly unmindful of all around, save Miss O’Dowd herself.  It may well be believed, that such an apparition could not be witnessed with gravity, and, accordingly a general titter ran through the room, the whist party still contending about odd tricks and honours, being the only persons insensible to the mirth around them—­“Miss Betty, arrah, Miss Betty,” said Nicholas with a sigh that converted the subdued laughter of the guests into a perfect burst of mirth.

“Eh,” said his lordship, turning round; “what is this?  We are losing something excellent, I fear.”

At this moment, he caught a glimpse of Nicholas, and, throwing himself back in this chair, laughed immoderately.  It was now Miss Betty’s turn; she was about to rise from the table, when the well-known accents of Nicholas fell upon her ear.  She fell back in her seat—­there he was:  the messenger of the foul fiend himself would have been more welcome at that moment.  Her blood rushed to her face and temples; her hands tingled; she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, there stood the accursed Nicholas glowering at her still.

“Man—­man!” said she at length; “what do you mean, what do you want here?”

Poor Nicholas, little guessing that the question was intended to throw a doubt upon her acquaintance with him, and conceiving that the hour for the announcement had come, hesitated for an instant how he should designate the conveyance.  He could not call it a coach!  It certainly was not a buggy—­neither was it a jaunting car—­what should he say—­he looked earnestly, and even imploringly at his mistress, as if to convey some sense of his difficulty, and then, as it were, catching a sudden inspiration, winked once more—­as he said:—­