WITH A WINE-GLASS. 59

Mrs. Layton rose from her seat in great
excitement. She was a young; pretty, grace-
ful woman ; slicht and: fair, with large blue
eyes, and a full complexion, which anger
deepened into scarlet. She still held the
child in her arms; but to Mary’s horror, as
she attempted to walk along the room, she
turned the infant on one arm and staggered
as she did so. Was it possible that a lady
—“a born lady’’—could have fallen into
_ the degrading vice, which she could not have
believed had risen from the streets and en-
tered into such a sanctuary as that! No,
she must be ill. Mrs. Layton went towards
a wardrobe, the child hanging half in, half
out of the bend of her arm. Again she
staggered, and Mary, seeing the child falling,
caught it, and exclaimed — |

“You are Hl, ma/am.”’ |
Mrs. Layton .turned on her a changed

countenance.