BEAUTY. 127

 

sembled, Mary produced, as she had ex-
pected and desired, some little sensation,
and was soon surrounded by a circle of gay
young men. Among these, however, she met
not Percival. It was, perhaps, half an
hour subsequent to her arrival, that Mary’s
eyes rested on the form of him she had
been looking for ever since her entrance.
He was standing, alone, in a distant part
of the room, and was evidently regarding
her with fixed attention. She blushed, and
her heart beat quicker as she discovered this.
Almost instantly a group of young persons
came between her and Percival, and she
did not see him again for some twenty mi-
nutes. Then he was sitting by the side of
Agnes Gray, the young lady to whom her
aunt referred as being beautiful, and whom
she regarded with very different ideas.
Agnes wore a plainly made sprigged muslin
dress, that fitted close to the neck; her
beautiful hair was neatly but not showily
arranged, and had a single ornament, which
was not conspicuous.