While Isabel＇s host exerted himself to entertain her in this somewhat con昀dential fashion she looked occasionally at Madame Merle, who met her eyes with an inattentive smile in which, on this occasion,there was no infelicitous intimation that our heroine appeared to advantage. Madame Merle eventually proposed to the Countess Gemini that they should go into the garden, and the Countess, rising and shaking out her feathers, began to rustle toward the door. "Poor Miss Archer!" she exclaimed, surveying the other group with expressive compassion. "She has been brought quite into the family."