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fouler sin, perchance, since unacknowledged and unrepented of; sin not brought forth into act, because her coldness, not her chastity, warded off temptation; because the iron shackles of society held her in compulsive restraint. But the bondage is merely external. Place but a window in Melinda's bosom, and that "rake at heart" cynical Pope finds in woman, will have too vivid an illustration!

How Melinda conducts her household is an enigma we shall not endeavor to solve. She does not attempt to assume its rule with that matronly dignity which proclaims itself the guiding spirit of the home department. Yet her domestic affairs glide on with tolerable smoothness, the wheels of the machine being oiled with lavish extravagance, with waste sufficient to save half a dozen families from starvation.

It has been said that the wifely face across the breakfast table is the one most likely to disenchant a husband. Perhaps Melinda has too much tact to run the risk of such a catastrophe. At all events, her husband's morning meal is usually a solitary one. Mrs. Belmont feels dull at the hour when the flowers are brightest, the birds sing sweetest, and Nature's dewy eyes open with their most refreshing smile. Languidly indolent, Melinda retreats into the chrysalis shell of her wrapper, and quietly mopes, like any veritable caterpillar, in its transition state. But when the day is