Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: - CHAPTER IV. Incipit Vita Nova. Before mid-day on Monday morning Miss Tufton received an envelope, containing the coupon of a private box at the Italian Opera for the following evening. She was as pleased as a child with a new bauble. Mr. Giuliani was a delightful, kind man, so quiet and unobtrusive: she did really believe that the best people were the most reserved. Miss Crumpton, to whom these remarks were made, tried to pitch her answers to the height of Lill's tone, but failed; for the young lady exclaimed, petulantly, — " What's the matter now, Crummie ? It's very strange I can never have a pleasure, but some one damps it." " My dear, I am as delighted as you can be about the box, and I consider this Italian gentleman, I assure you, a most agreeable person; but—" "Well, as there is a 'but'—must be a 'but' in the case, take courage, Crummie, and out with it." " Sir Mark, what will he say ?" " Nothing pleasant or polite, that's certain; however, he heard me make the request, and if he had meant to interfere, he would have done so before this. 0 Crummie, ' sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.' Do, like a good soul, let me enjoy myself this once. I never felt happy about a play before. I am going to write a note to my slave Valentine, to ask him to bring me his copy of Ernani this evening. I know he has the whole opera, for he was raving about Ernani involami the last time I saw him. I want to know the music beforehand." Miss Crumpton either was, or seemed to be, deep in the mysteries of a crochet pattern. She nevertheless heard Lill's pen gliding rapidly over the paper, and the anxious look in the old lady's face deepened. " There; it is done; and admire my diplomatic talent. I have asked Master Valentine to join our party tomorrow, and t... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.