Twice round the clock; or, The hours of the day and night in London . turn, gave it to theblack-vestmented groom of the chambers, who proclaimed it to theworld in general in sonorous tones, and the bold lieutenant was in-ducted to the saloons of reception. Who was to know whether he hadbeen invited to the feast or not? Not, certainly, the hostess, who,perhaps, did not know two hundred and fifty of her five hundred guestsby sight. Some had been asked by her husband, some by herself. Notcertainly the guests, who would not have been much surprised if theyhad met the Hottentot Venus or the King of
Twice round the clock; or, The hours of the day and night in London . turn, gave it to theblack-vestmented groom of the chambers, who proclaimed it to theworld in general in sonorous tones, and the bold lieutenant was in-ducted to the saloons of reception. Who was to know whether he hadbeen invited to the feast or not? Not, certainly, the hostess, who,perhaps, did not know two hundred and fifty of her five hundred guestsby sight. Some had been asked by her husband, some by herself. Notcertainly the guests, who would not have been much surprised if theyhad met the Hottentot Venus or the King of the Cannibal lieutenant made his bow and himself comfortable ; was sure tomeet some lady or gentleman in society whom he knew, and probablydeparted with a list of half-a-dozen newly-formed and valuable acquaint-ances. He went on and prospered. Gradually, from being met andliked at great houses, he received genuine invitations, and, as I havepremised, he made a good end of it at the Admiralty. I hope he pen-sioned Silver Tom. 316 TWICE BOUND THE MIDNIGHT. THE KAYMARKET SrPPEE-KOOM S. 317 Who is dead by this time, most probably ; but I can still stand bythe side of his successor, at the door of the great house, by the lampand lanterns glare, and see the gay company pass in and out. Howthe horses champ ! how the dresses rustle ! how the jewels shine ! andwhat fair women and brave men are here congregated ! Messrs. Weip-perts or Collinets band are upstairs; Messrs. Gunters men havebrought the ices; there are flirtations in the conservatories, andsqueezings of hands interchanged on the stairs. Vows of love arespoken, flowers from bouquets are given; and is it not, after all, thesame old, old story, that boys and girls will love one another, and thatthe old people will look on with pretended severity, but with real con-tentment in their hearts, and that there will be present a few jealousand cankered ones, who will look on to envy the others because theyare so ha
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