(Greek passage)  
     May the Gods grant what your best hopes pursue,
     A husband, and a home, with concord¹ true;
     No greater boon² from Jove's ethereal dome³
     Descends, than concord in the nuptial⁴ home
     —Ulysses to Nausicaa, in the sixth book of the Odyssey⁵.
What passed between Algernon and Morgana, when the twenty-eighth morning brought his probation⁶ to a close, it is unnecessary to relate. The gentleman being predetermined to propose, and the lady to accept, there was little to be said, but that little was conclusive⁷.
 
Mr. Gryll was delighted. His niece could not have made a choice more thoroughly⁸ to his mind.
 
'My dear Morgana,' he said, 'all's well that ends well. Your fastidiousness in choice has arrived at a happy termination. And now you will perhaps tell me why you rejected so many suitors, to whom you had in turn accorded a hearing. In the first place, what was your objection to the Honourable⁹ Escor A'Cass?{1} He was a fine, handsome, dashing fellow. He was the first in the field, and you seemed to like him.'
 
     1 To-the-Crows: the Athenian equivalent for our o'-the-
     Devil: a gambler's journey: not often a long one.
Miss Gryll. He was too dashing, uncle: he gambled. I did like him, till I discovered his evil propensity¹⁰.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Sir Alley¹¹ Capel? 'My dear Marcotta, all's well that mix well.
 
Miss Gryll. He speculated; which is only another name for gambling¹². He never knew from day to day whether he was a rich man or a beggar. He lived in a perpetual fever, and I wish to live in tranquillity¹³.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Mr. Ballot¹⁴?
 
Miss Gryll. He thought of nothing but politics: he had no feeling of poetry. There was never a more complete negation¹⁵ of sympathy, than between him and me.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Sir John Pachyderm?
 
Miss Gryll. He was a mere¹⁶ man of the world, with no feeling of any kind: tolerable in company, but tiresome¹⁷ beyond description in a tête-à-tête. I did not choose that he should bestow¹⁸ all his tediousness on me.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Mr. Enavant?
 
Miss Gryll. He was what is called a fast man, and was always talking of slow coaches. I had no fancy for living in an express train. I like to go quietly through life, and to see all that lies in my way.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Mr. Geront?
 
Miss Gryll. He had only one fault, but that one was unpardonable. He was too old. To do him justice, he did not begin as a lover. Seeing that I took pleasure in his society, he was led by degrees into fancying that I might accept him as a husband. I liked his temper, his acquirements, his conversation, his love of music and poetry, his devotion to domestic life. But age and youth cannot harmonise in marriage.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Mr. Long Owen?
 
Miss Gryll. He was in debt, and kept it secret from me. I thought he only wanted my fortune: but be that as it might, the concealment¹⁹ destroyed my esteem²⁰.
 
Mr. Gryll. To Mr. Larvel?
 
Miss Gryll. He was too ugly. Expression may make plain features agreeable, and I tried if daily intercourse²¹ would reconcile me to his. But no. His ugliness was unredeemed.
 
Mr. Gryll. None of these objections applied²² to Lord Curryfin?
 
Miss Gryll. No, uncle; but he came too late. And besides, he soon found what suited him better.
 
Mr. Gryll. There were others. Did any of the same objections apply to them all?
 
Miss Gryll. Indeed, uncle, the most of them were nothing; or at best, mere suits of good clothes; men made, as it were, to pattern by the dozen; selfish, frivolous²³, without any earnest pursuit, or desire to have one; ornamental²⁴ drawing-room furniture, no more distinguishable in memory than a set of chairs.
 
Mr. Gryll. Well, my dear Morgana, for mere negations there is no remedy; but for positive errors, even for gambling, it strikes me they are curable.
 
Miss Gryll. No, uncle. Even my limited observation has shown me that men are easily cured of unfashionable virtues²⁵, but never of fashionable vices²⁶.
 
Miss Gryll and Miss Niphet arranged that their respective marriages and those of the seven sisters should be celebrated²⁷ at the same time and place. In the course of their castle-building before marriage, Miss Niphet said to her intended:
 
'When I am your wife, I shall release you from your promise of not trying experiments with horses, carriages, boats, and so

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