CHAPTER XX.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 355, 30 March 1889, Page 3

CHAPTER XX.

AN IXrOItMA.Ii DINNER I'ARTV. When Friday evening arrived, and ib was time for the ladies of Milnacot Lodge to commence theiv preparations previous to dining at Brabazon Hall, an unusual bustl c and fuss prevailed throughout the entir establishment. Betsy the parlour, and Jane the housemaid's time was fully employed in running backwards and forwards between the various rooms, demanding the loan of hair-pins, curling-irons and sundry adjuncts of the toilet requisite on so important an occasion. The minutes flew by so swiftly that by/ the time the whole five ladies had finished' dressing to their minds, and with outspread skirts had carefully packed themselves inside the roomy old family landau, they were exceedingly late ; and, as a natural consequence 0- that lateness, somewhat flustered and out of temper. Mrs Shepperton's cheeks were scarlet from excitement, and her heart beat unusually fast as she entered Mr Denver's drawing-room, and immediately launched out into a string of profuse apologies. ' Ten thousand pardons,' she exclaimed, 1 so sorry — would not have had it occur for worlds— hope we are not teiribly behind time— but the clocks were wrong and the carriage didn't come round when ib was ordered— and our horse is so slow — and the road so hilly,', etc., etc. Every excuse, in fact, under the sun, except the actual one of £ye ladies dressing for a party finding it simply impossible to be ready in time. ' Pray don't distress yourself, my dear lady,' said Mr Denver, reassuringly,shaking hands affably with each of them in turn. * Will you not sit down, Miss Dulcie V as Mrs Shepperton, having sunk into an armchair, evidently considered it unnecessary to mount dragon over her daughters. ' You will get tired of standing.' The girl felt shy. She was very young, and this was her first dinner-party. She scarcely knew her host, and what she did know of him she did not like. Still she was grateful now for his notice, since it prevented her from feeling quite isolated, and just at first, coming in out of the darkness into a spacious, brilliantly-lit room, the glare of the wax candles filling the costly chandeliers, added to the busy hum of, voices, confused her senses, but, when she found herself seated in a snug corner, by degrees she summoned up courage to look around. Most of the guests were old acquaintances. Mrs Mornington was there, fat, fair, and dowdy, in a skimpy black grenadine, adorned with sea-green sabin bows ; Mr and Mrs Smith, deep in parochial matters, poor-rat^, village clubs, and so for,th ; Mr Greyson, blushing aud stammering from the combined effects of shyness and love as he bent down and talked to Marian ; young Mr Porter, tall,, red-faced, stupid, and good-natured, devoting himself to Ethel ; and there — yes, there — behind that beautiful S^enetian screen, hubtoned-holed by old .Sir Berkeley Hilltown, was Bob •Mornipgton, looking as straight and goodly as a young .oak. Her heart gave a great bound- at the sight of him. Meantime Mr .Denv.er was glancing at her in evident admiration. Her dress was simplicity itself — a soft white Indian muslin, whose graceful folds clung about her slender figure, giving shapely prominence to its rounded outlines and gently swelling bust, above which rose the white pillar-like neck and well - poised head, crowned by a profusion of soft, dark-brown curls, that lent a boyish, roguish expression to the sweet, bright face beneath them. She had nob a single ornament of any sore, and Denver, as he gazed critically at the girl, much as he would have looked at a beautiful picture, or rare old article of vertu, was fain to admit that those large, lustrous eyes, rosy lips, and downy cheeks .were sufficient in themselves, and required no artificial adornments. Man of the world as he was, her beauty, freshness, and innocence produced a decided impression. Mr Denver's reflections were cut short by the entry of Lord Pushington and the announcement of dinner. Of course Bob was wrongly paired ; people always are on such' occasions, and Dulcie, to her dismay, found herself consigned to the tender mercies of the excellent but uninteresting Mr Smith. She had no taste for mild clerical plati' tudes, consequently, when she perceived that deaf, murnbly Sir Berkeley was her other neighbour, and that Bob had been placed right at the far-off end of the table, she sat down to table feeling decidedly disappointed at the general arrangements. ' What on earth,' she mused, disconsolately, ' vras the use of asking her out to dinner, only to stick her down between two Idfrumps whom she had known ever since she was a baby, and whom', if so minded, she could see almost every day of her life ? There was no compliment in-it, not a scrap, and certainly no pleasure. But perhaps Mr Denver had done ib expressly.' Her anger against him momentarily increased. She glanced indignantly to where he was sitting talking to her mother, and took a malicious pleasure in counting up the number of times he introduced the first personal pronoun into each sentence. After a while, he seemed to grow conscious of her gaze, for, nodding his head with an excess of friendliness highly irritating to its object, he called out : ' Well, Miss Dulcie, a dinner-party is nob such a formidable affair after all. I hope you've recovered from your shyness and feel prebty comfortable ?' Pretty comfortable, indeed ! How could she possibly feel comfortable between such a pair of old prbsers ? She ,felb dreadfully inclined to answer back, * ITo, I'm not a bib comfortable, ■ I'm boring myself ■ most horribly j : bub, luckily,' her natural timidity intervened, and prevented the utterance of so star tlin sly frank a declaration. Instead she blushed scarlet,' and mumbled : ' Yes, pretty well, thank you.' Such a speech seemed like the height ot hypocrisy ; yet what other reply could she make ? In politesocieby it becomes impossible always to speak the truth, since nine times out of ten nothing is more distinctly unpleasing to the recipient. And now the hum of voices increased, and the sound of frequent laughter made itself heard round the board. - 4 Lord Pushington was in a capital humour, ,and proved so enbertaining that both Mrs Shepperton arid Ethel, between whom he sat; smiled and giggled incessantly ; -although Ethel scarcely moved a muscle of her beautiful face, only permitting a little cheerful cooing to issue from between her parted lips. Marian and Mr Greyson were sitting opposite, smiling, and blushing, and whispering, with their heads .very,,clos<s together, like the foolish young couple they were ; Charlotte' Had' condescended to enter into conversation wifelrMr Porter/ though, alas !

he had no soul for the eternal verities ; while Bob Mornington looked rather sulky and bored, after the maunerof young Englishmen when they find themselves told off to take an elderly and uninteresting matron into dinner, while the girl of their choice is struggling valorously with an octogenarian Faust. Dulcie, whose observant eyes nothing escaped, wondered' why it was that when people advanced in life they derived such intense satisfaction from their food, and seemed to consider it so serious a portion of existence. For her part,, the multiplicity of dishes was wearisome in the extreme. And now, at length, toiler intonse relief, a pause ensued, prolonged into an awkward silence, during which Mrs Mornington looked " hositatingly at Mrs Shepperton, and Mrs Shepperton looked hesitatingly at Mrs Mornineton — just for all the world as if neither of the two matrons could summon up a decision between them — until (this little by-play having succeeded in attracting general attention) the ladies rose in a body irom their scats, and after much searching for glove?, dropping of fans and handkerchiefs, and seeking after shoes — which owing to their tightness had been discarded during dinner, and now could not easilj be found — they huddled towards the door like a flock of sheep following their leader.