The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-23 00:00:00

Soon comes the desired recognition—

" And oh ! Tell me, John ! Tell me ! Who is that dash-
ing, splashing, fine, thundering three-decker of a woman
with the bare back ?"

" She dresses too low, certainly, for English tastes ; but
being a Frenchwoman, she must be excused for following
the fashions of her country. That is my wife."
" The devil !" exclaimed Felix, looking inexpressibly
shocked.

"Your admiration was rather roughly expressed, cer-
tainly," said Mr. Thorburn, quite misinterpreting his
brother's feelings, "but it was genuine ; and we must ex-
cuse some roughness in a backwoodsman. Come, I will
introdUce you to her."
The fair Eugenie's reception of her brother-in-law was
so graceful, so frank, so caressing, that his first unfavour-
able impression was entirely obliterated in a few minutes,
and he no longer wondered at what he had mentally called
her husband's blind infatuation.

She declined to continue dancing, that she might devote
her whole attention to him. As soon as his name was
buzzed about through the company, he naturally became
the centre of attraction, but she made it seem as if this was
all her own doing, and that it was solely by her patronage
that be was suddenly elevated to the dignified position of
the lion of the evening. With admirable tact she as-
sembled round him all those who, from rank, talent, or old
acquaintance had a right to join the privileged circle; and
he soon found himself drawn out by her skilful manage-
ment, he knew not by what mystic process, to relate his
manifold adventures by flood and field, and to talk more in
the course of one hour than, in the solitude of the primeval
forests, he had talked in a year.

"What the deuce is there in this woman ?" he said to
himself, when a long speech from a prosy old gentleman
gave him time for reflection. " She has certainly most
wonderful powers of fascination ; yet I never knew a
strong first impression deceive me, and that was not fa-
vourable to hor. I'll put her to the test."
The test as to the deceitful character of the smooth-
spoken sister-in-law having justified his suspicions,
Felix administers a passing rebuke by way of re-
venge :

Again the talk fell upon distant lands, and Felix was
giving a description of the semi-civilised inhabitants of
some island that he had visited, lying far out in the
Pacific.

"And pray tell us," said Mrs. Thorburn, " what is de
costume of de ladies ? We all take an interest in de fashion
all over de world."

" The dress of the ladies," repeated Felix thoughtfully,
and surveying his sister-in-law from head to foot; "well,
it is not unlike your own in shape, though the material is
different. They wear some petticoats fastened round the
waist, and leave the upper part of the body naked."
" Do you mean to say dat I do dat ?" screamed Eugenie,
trembling with rage, while little Miss Weston pressed her
handkerchief to her mouth to smother a laugh, though she
could not make up her mind to retreat and so forego the
triumph she was enjoying. "Do you moan to say dat my
dress is like dat ?—Dat I leave my—Oh, you shameful
man ! I never was so insulte in my life !"

" Nay, nay ; I mean no offence," said Felix, quietly ;
"pray don't be angry about nothing. You asked me to
describe the costume of the most modest race of women I
ever met with ; and lam doing so to the best of my abi-
lity, by comparison with your own. If I have, as yousa,y,
insulted you, you must make some allowance for me, be-
cause for the last ten years I have lived amongst a simple
set of people, who had no two names for the same thing,
though it might relate in one case to a semi-savage, and in
another to a lady of fashion."

The lady, however, has her revenge the next day,
when Felix introduces his little foreign daughter.
Mr. Thorsghyll is passing along the corridor when
He was recalled by a succession of piercing shrieks, fol-
lowed by wild hysterical sobs and wailings in the voice of
Eugenie, mingled with the cries and terrified screams of
her children.
At a bound he regained the boudoir.

Near the opposite door stood Felix, holding Felicia
firmly by the hand, and with an expression of concentrated
rage upon his face that was terrible to behold. The slender
figure of his child, in her plain dark dress, was in singular
contrast to the little dedizened dolls that roared and
scrambled about a large writhing mass of muslin that lay
upon the sofa, emitting screams and a confusion of inco-
herent words, and upon which Felicia's eyes were fixed in
calm astonishment.

Priscilla, who had run in at the first shriek, just in time
to catch the baby before it fell upon the floor, was rushing
hither and thither, calling for doctors and restoratives, and
adding to the confusion.
"My love !My life What is it ?" cried Mr. Thorburn,
raising his wife in his arms, and trying to obtain a sight of
her face, which she pertinaciously kept hidden, first against
the sofa pillow, and then against his shoulder.
"Oh, my Eugenie he added, in a remorseful whisper,
"It was not—it could not be—tell, my dearest, it was not
anything that I said ?"
" No—no—no," she gasped out, " but oh! it was so
toughtless not to warn me! —lt was so unkind to de poor
creature—but I can't help it !"
What was unkind ? What can't you help ?" demanded
her husband, in utter bewilderment.
"Oh ! you should have tell me ! You should have warn
me !" she sobbed, and here, having satisfied herself by a
slight side glance that Felix was still present, her utterance
became more distinct, " when you know I am so fright at
black poople or monkey I —Oh ! you should have warn me
she was black !"

"Hush ! hush !" exclaimed Mr. Thorburn, almost indig-
nantly, "my brother is in the room. You are mistaken,
Eugenie, she is not black. Look at her again. I tell you,
you are mistaken."
These scenes are enough to show the animated, and,
at times satirical, manner in which Mrs. Bird en-
livens her narrative. We do not quite admire the
prize-fighting propensities of the paragon, Master
Tom, who polishes off six or eight combatants by
fixing the hour of fighting immediately after dinner,
and administering what he calls " a Scientific touch
on the region of the bread-basket, learnedly called
the epigastrium, when the first stage of digestion is
progressing." With all his admiration for theprize-
ring, Master Tom is apparently ignorant of one of
the first rules of the pugilist. Mabel is a very charm-
ing heroine, but Felicia rather repels our sympa-
thies. In a chapter entitled " Happy is the wooing
that is not long in doing," Felicia, who has just
been talking to her cousin Mabel about the folly
of love and declaring that never will she yield to its
influence, becomes in about ten minutes after engaged
to a man whom she has never seen before, and who
has only addressed a few words to her when irre-
vocable vows are interchanged ! The fate of
Thorsghyll, which gives its name to the work, is
very satisfactorily decided in the closing chapter,
and the mystery is very carefully maintained till the
right moment.

The Story of the Great March. From the Diary of
a Staff-officer. By Brevet-Major George Ward
Nichols, Aide-de-Camp to General Sherman.
With a Map and Illustrations. 1 Vol. pp. 288.

Sampson Low.
A very interesting narrative of General Sher-
man's Great March through Georgia, written by
one well qualified for the task. " The remarkable
features and events of the campaigns of Georgia
and the Carolinas, visible to me," says the author,
" during the whole of the Great March were noted
daily in my journal, from that diary the story of
the march is compiled." The volume is embellished
with some very spirited illustrations.

Mr. George Dundas (Lieut.-Governor of Prince
Edward's Island) and Mr. Geo. Solomon (Jamaica) seve-
rally had an interview yesterday with the Right Hon.
Edward Cardwell, at the Colonial-office.

einal -..,:(41.V7
tinny

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Wednesday.

His Royal Highness Prince Arthur arrived at the
Castle on Monday evening, and left this morning for
Greenwich Park, attended by Major Elphinstone.
Count and Countess Gleichen also arrived, and
had the honour of dining with the Queen and royal
family.

The Queen, accompanied by their Royal High-
nesses the Crown Princess of Prussia and Princess
Louis of Hesse, drove in the grounds this morning.
Her. Royal Highness Princess Beatrice also drove
out.

Yesterday afternoon, in celebration of the birth-
day of her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of
Prussia (Princess Royal), Messrs. Carpenter and
Westley had the honour of exhibiting their phan-
tasmagoria and dissolving views before the royal
children at Windsor Castle and a party of children
who were honoured with invitations.
The Crown Princess and Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse, with their children, Princess Helena,
Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold,.
and Princess Beatrice were present.
In the evening, by her Majesty's command, and
by the Crown Princess's especial wish, the princess's
birthday was celebrated by an entertainment given
in St. George's Hall to the whole of the servants of
the royal household at Windsor, when Col. Stodare,
from the Egyptian Hall, went through his perform-
ance of magic and ventriloquism.
Soon after half-past nine o'clock her Majesty,
accompanied by their Royal Highnesses the Crown
Prince and Princess of Prussia, Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse, Princess Helena, Princess Louise,
Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, and Princess Bea-
trice, entered the ball and witnessed a portion of
the performance.
Her Majesty then, with the royal family, went
to the White Drawing-room, where were assembled
the Prussian Ambassador and Countess Bernstorff,
the Rev. Lord and Lady Wriothesley and Miss
Russell, Major-General the Hon. A. and Lady Mary
Hood and Miss Hood, Major-General and Lady
Emily Seymour, Mr. and Mrs. Erskine, &c., with
the Ladies and Gentlemen in Waiting on her
Majesty and the royal family, the Dean of Windsor
and the Hon. Mrs. Wellesley, the Hon. Lady Bid-
dulph, the Hon. Mrs. Ponsonby, Sir James Clark,
Mr. Sahl, and Mr. Woodward.

After her Majesty had retired, the private band
played in the Red Drawing-room before the royal
family and the party assembled.

The Prince and Princess of Wales.
LONG MELFORD, Wednesday.

The festivities of last evening passed off very well,
although the efforts made by the Melfordians to
display their jubilant loyalty were somewhat
marred by a few passing showers. The company
invited to the ball began to arrive about 9 o'clock,
and about 10 dancing was commenced ; Lord Alfred
Paget opening the ball with the Princess of Wales,
while the Prince selected for his first partner Lady
Alfred Paget. The princess afterwards danced
with Lord Suffield, Lord Proby, &c. ; and the
prince showed his usual devotion to the pleasures of
the ball-room, which on this occasion were pro-
longed till about three in the morning. The
princess wore a white tulle dress with coloured
tunique, a diamond necklace and diamonds in
her hair. The prince wore the insignia of the
Order of the Garter. The arrangements made
for the ball proved highly successful. Lady
Georgiana Rebow, one of the invited guests, was, we
believe, unable to attend from indisposition. Win-
terben's band from Colchester was in attendance.
There was no stated programme, but the dances
were selected at the pleasure of the royal visitors.

This morning the decorations in Melford-street,
and on the houses on either side were still displayed,
and the excitement of the population appealed to
have scarcely subsided to a sufficient extent to en-
able many of them to resume their ordinary voca-
tions. The weather was very threatening early in
the morning, and there were one or two heavy
showers of rain, accompanied by a strong W.S.W.
wind. As the day advanced, however, some im-
provement took, place, and, although the ground
was very wet and heavy, the air was soft and balmy.
The prince, accompanied by his noble host, Lord
Suffield, Lord Proby, Viscount Hinchingbroke,
Major-General Lord George Paget, Mr. B. Paget,
and Major Teesdale, went out shooting in Spel-
thorne-wood, shortly before noon, and did not re-
turn till late in the evening. There being a good
supply of game, the distinguished party enjoyed
some very fair sport. As stated yesterday, Lineage-
wood is also set down for attack, and the prince and
party will shoot in it to-morrow.

It is expected that the visit of the prince and
princess to Melford will be prolonged till Friday.
They will return to Sandringham via Cambridge,
following the same route as that by which they
reached Melford ; as, however, the line from Sud-
bury to Shelford (at which point a junction is
effected with the Cambridge main line of the Great
Eastern system) is only a single one, their royal
highnesses will probably travel by an ordinary train
An impression has prevailed in the district that the
new Shelford and Sudbury line has not yet become
sufficiently. consolidated ; but this statement is offi-
cially contradicted, and it is affirmed that the per-
manent way is in a satisfactory state. Certainly
the punctuality with which the prince and princess
were conveyed from Wolferton to Melford yester-
day, notwithstanding the pressure of an unusually
heavy traffic, was creditable to the Great Eastern
management. The prince and princess will be
escorted to the station on Friday, as yesterday they
were escorted from it, by the Long Melford troop of
Yeomanry Cavalry.
Melford may fairly be said to be one of the
most picturesque villages in Suffolk, and the Hall
is a fine old mansion situate at the extremity
of the extensive village-green on the Bury Sb•
Edmund's side. It is a very short distance from the
road, although it is separated from it by a high
wall. It was formerly the seat of Sir Hyde Parker,
from whom it passed to its present owner, Sir W.
Parker, who, however, has never occupied it, pre-
ferring a residence of more modest pretensions in
the immediate vicinity. The apartments set apart
for the use of the royal guests were a suite of roans
on the north side, embracing the saloon, one of the
most beautiful apartments in the mansion. The
last scion of the House of Brunswick who honoured
Melford with his presence was the Duke of York,
who visited it about 40 years since. As, however,
was stated yesterday, the apartment now being used
as a dressing-room by the prince was occupied by
Queen Elizabeth in the course of the sixteenth cen-
tury. In the long intervening years wonderful hafe
been the changes which have swept over the face of
England, but Melford Hall still rears its venerable
front, 'immutable among all surrounding mutations.
The park is one of great extent and beauty.
mournful interest attaches to it just now, as dariVg
the present autumn it has been the scene of perhaPs
the greatest havoc yet committed by the mysterious
cattle plague in any part of Suffolk.
We observed yesterday that it was impossible to
reproduce all the efforts made by the Melfordiaes
to express their loyal feelings. Some of them even,
soared into the regions of rhyme, the landlord 01
the Bull hotel displaying the following cheering
sentiment :

" Prosperity to the royal pair,
Denmark's pride and England's heir."

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princes
Louis of Hesse did not leave Windsor for the Contineuav
yesterday, as intended, in consequence of the gale of NO'
then blowing. Should the weather moderate their roY6
highnesses will embark to-day.
The Duke of St. Albans has left the Clarend°ll

Hotel for Grimsby.
The Duke and Duchess of Buckingham are,e,,ll:
tertaining a select party at Stowe, the ancient seat of
`---
Chandos family in Buckinghamshire.
We understand that a marriage is arranged t°
„d Ariss
take place between the Marquis of Queensberli
Sibyl Montgomery, daughter of Mr. Alfred gontg°.--
and granddaughter of Lord LeconAeld.