oor.
The lady rejoined, with vivacity, that when she wanted to see people
very much she did not insist upon those distinctions, and that Mr.
Westgate had written to her of his English friends in terms that made
her really anxious. "He said you were so terribly prostrated," said Mrs.
Westgate.

"Oh, you mean by the heat?" replied Percy Beaumont. "We were
rather knocked up, but we feel wonderfully better. We had such a
jolly--a--voyage down here. It's so very good of you to mind."

"Yes, it's so very kind of you," murmured Lord Lambeth.

Mrs. Westgate stood smiling; she was extremely pretty. "Well, I did
mind," she said; "and I thought of sending for you this morning to the
Ocean House. I am very glad you are better, and I am charmed you have
arrived. You must come round to the other side of the piazza." And she
led the way, with a light, smooth step, looking back at the young men
and smiling.

The other side of the piazza was, as Lord Lambeth presently remarked, a
very jolly place. It was of the most liberal proportions, and with its
awnings, its fanciful chairs, its cushions and rugs, its view of the
ocean, close at hand, tumbling along the base of the low cliffs whose
level tops intervened in lawnlike smoothness, it formed a charming
complement to the drawing room. As such it was in course of use at the
present moment; it was occupied by a social circle. There were several
ladies and two or three gentlemen, to whom Mrs. Westgate proceeded to
introduce the distinguished strangers. She mentioned a great many names
very freely and distinctly; the young Englishmen, shuffling about and
bowing, were rather bewildered. But at last they were provided
with chairs--low, wicker chairs, gilded, and tied with a great many
ribbons--and one of the ladies (a very young person, with a little snub
nose and several dimples) offered Percy Beaumont a fan. The fan was also
adorned with pink love knots; but Percy Beaumont declined it, although
he was very hot. Presently, however, it became cooler; the breeze from
the sea was delicious, the view was charming, and the people sitting
there looked exceedingly fresh and comfortable. Several of the ladies
seemed to be young girls, and the gentlemen were slim, fair youths,
such as our friends had seen the day before in New York. The ladies were
working upon bands of tapestry, and one of the young men had an open
book in his lap. Beaumont afterward learned from one of the ladies that
this young