"One minute, papa."
"You are looking very lovely to-night, my daughter. Be careful and have your manners to correspond with your looks. My choicest friends are here this evening, and I wish to see you Queen of Hearts."
"Especially to General Delville?"
"Especially to General Delville, Della. I shall be very happy to see you his wife, and it is in your power to become so if you choose."
"I should like to know how many wives he has already, before I take that step, so that I may know how strong a fortification my eyes need against finger-nails."
"Fie, Della! the General has never been married, and you will no doubt occupy the first place in his heart."
"I have always hoped that when I married such might be my lot, but it cannot be in this case, I know. If General Delville has lived in New-Orleans till he has grown old enough to be my grandfather, he can't have much of a heart left."
"Della, you astonish me!" said her father, with the frown deepening. "One would think you had no ambition whatever to make a good match."
"Papa, do you love me at all?"