ch so easily made their way
in his former method of courtship, were no longer proper in the mode
which, for the future, he was obliged to pursue.

He had an old valet-de-chambre, called Termes, a bold thief, and a still
more impudent liar: he used to send this man from London every week, on
the commissions we have before mentioned; but after the disgrace of
Mrs. Middleton, and the adventure of Miss Warmestre, Mr. Termes was only
employed in bringing his master's clothes from Paris, and he did not
always acquit himself with the greatest fidelity in that employment, as
will appear hereafter.

The queen was a woman of sense, and used all her endeavours to please
the king, by that kind obliging behaviour which her affection made
natural to her: she was particularly attentive in promoting every sort
of pleasure and amusement especially such as she could be present at
herself.

She had contrived, for this purpose, a splendid masquerade, where those,
whom she appointed to dance, had to represent different nations; she
allowed some time for preparation, during which we may suppose, the
tailors, the mantua makers, and embroiderers, were not idle: nor were
the beauties, who were to be there, less anxiously employed; however,
Miss Hamilton found time enough to invent two or three little tricks, in
a conjuncture so favourable, for turning into ridicule the vain fools of
the court. There were two who were very eminently such: the one was Lady
Muskerry, who had married her cousin-german; and the other a maid of
honour to the Duchess, called Blague.

The first, whose husband most assuredly never married her for beauty,
was made like the generality of rich heiresses, to whom just nature
seems sparing of her gifts, in proportion as they are loaded with those
of fortune: she had the shape of a woman big with child, without being
so; but had a very good reason for limping; for, of two legs uncommonly
short, one was much shorter than the other. A face suitable to this
description gave the finishing stroke to this disagreeable figure.

Miss Blague was another species of ridicule: her shape was neither good
nor bad: her countenance bore the appearance of the greatest insipidity,
and her complexion was the same all over; with two little hollow eyes,
adorned with white eye-lashes, as long as one's finger. With these
attractions she placed herself in ambuscade to surprise unwary hearts;
but she might have done so in vain, had it not been f