"Yes, pa, I see,—of course it was a mere slip of the pen"——
"A slip of the pen!" retorted the father, "and is that a sufficient excuse? Proper respect will teach a young man of right feelings towards your sex, to take good care that no such carelessness retains a place in his first billet to a lady—it is an indication of character, my child! Depend upon it, that the man who writes in this way,—encircling some of his words with a flourish, abbreviating others, mis-spelling, and all upon mottled paper, with a highly ornate border, does not understand himself, and will be guilty of other solecisms in good manners and good taste, that will be very likely to embarrass and shock a young lady accustomed to"——
"The society of gentlemen of the old school, like pa and Col. Lunettes!" exclaimed Fanny, in her usual laughing manner, snatching up the condemned missive, and flying out of the room.
In the course of the evening, my old friend and I joined the ladies in the drawing-room.
A merry group around a centre-table, attracted me, and as the fair Fanny made a place beside her agreeable little self for me, I was soon settled to my satisfaction in the midst of the fair bevy.
"What are you all so busy about?" I inquired, as I seated myself.
"Oh, criticising!" cried one.
"Acquiring knowledge under difficulties," replied another.
"Accomplishing ourselves in the Art Epistolary, by the study of models!" returned a third.
And sure enough,—the table was strewed with cards, and notes, and an empty fancy-basket told where these sportive critics had obtained their materials. I soon gathered that the scrutiny Fanny's note had undergone in the library, was the moving cause of this sudden resuscitation of defunct billet-doux and forgotten cards.