Bunker had assured him was
the very latest extreme of fashion, and which included a scarlet watered
silk waistcoat, a pair of white silk socks, and a lavender tie, was in a
condition of cheerfulness verging closely on hilarity. Mr Bunker, that, as
he said, he might better serve as a foil to his friend's splendour, went
more inconspicuously dressed, but was likewise well charged with
champagne. He too was in his happiest vein, and the vision of the Baron's
finery appeared to afford him peculiar gratification.

Their hansom stopped in front of a large and gaily lit-up mansion, with an
awning leading to the door, and a cluster of carriages and footmen by the
kerbstone. They entered, and having divested themselves of their coats, Mr
Bunker proposed that they should immediately seek the supper-room.

"Bot should I not be first introduced to mine hostess?" asked the Baron.

"My dear Baron! a formal reception of the guests is entirely foreign to
English etiquette."

"Zo? I did not know zat."

The supper-room was crowded, and having secured a table with some
difficulty, Mr Bunker entered immediately into conversation with a
solitary young gentleman who was consuming a plate of oysters. Before they
had exchanged six sentences the young man had entirely succumbed to Mr
Bunker's address, aided possibly by the young man's supper.

"Permit me to introduce my friend the Baron Rudolph von Blitzenberg, a
nobleman strange as yet to England, but renowned throughout his native
land alike for his talents and his lofty position," said Mr Bunker.

"Ach, my good friend," exclaimed the Baron, grasping the young man's hand,
"das ist Bonker's vat you call nonsense; bot I am delighted, zehr
delighted, to meet you, and if you gom to Bavaria you most shoot vid me!
Bravo! Ha!"

From which it may be gathered that the Baron was in a genial humour.

"Who is that girl?" asked Mr Bunker, pointing to an extremely pretty
damsel just leaving the room.

"Oh, that's my cousin, Lady Muriel Hilton. She's thought rather pretty, I
believe," answered the young man.

"Do you mind introducing me?"

"Certainly," said their new friend. "Come along."

As they were passing through the room a little incident occurred that, if
the Baron's perceptions had been keener, might have given him cause for
some speculation. Two men standing by the door looked hard at Mr Bunker,
and then at each other, and as the Baron passed them he heard one say, "It
looks devilis