Mr. and Mrs. Graham

Breakfast had been some time over, when the roll of carriage wheels
and a loud ring at the door, announced the arrival of Mr. Graham,
who, true to his appointment with Durward, had come up to meet him,
accompanied by Mrs. Graham. This lady, who could boast of having
once been the bride of an English lord, to say nothing of belonging
to the "very first family of Virginia," was a sort of bugbear to Mrs.
Livingstone, who, haughty and overbearing to her equals, was
nevertheless cringing and cowardly in the presence of those whom she
considered her superiors. Never having seen Mrs. Graham, her ideas
concerning her were quite elevated, and now when she came
unexpectedly, it quite overcame her. Unfortunately, too, she was
this morning suffering from a nervous headache, the result of the
excitement and late hours of the night before, and on learning that
Mrs. Graham was in the parlor, she fell back in her rocking-chair,
and between a groan and a sigh, declared her utter inability to see
her at present, saying that Carrie must play the part of hostess
until such time as she felt composed enough to undertake it.

"Oh, I can't--I _shan't_--that ends it!" said Carrie, who, though a
good deal dressed on Durward's account, still felt anxious to give a
few more finishing touches to her toilet, and to see if her hair and
complexion were all right, ere she ventured into the august presence
ef her "mother-in-law elect," as she confidently considered Mrs.
Graham.