That was years ago, it is true; and it might well be imagined that a lady of the mature age of five-and-thirty might have outlived her charms; but in her particular case this was not so.

Miss Hardcastle, as she was called, was still very beautiful, high-spirited, and an excellent horsewoman.

She was also--if that had been necessary to obtain her purpose--well-read and accomplished.

Being clever, good-looking, and not easily shocked, however, she was more than competent to secure the affections of young Carew.

She was, nevertheless, as I have said, literally old enough to be his mother; and the idea of the affair having been a love-match, in the usual sense of the expression, was simply preposterous.