pleasant stories, witty remarks, and acute
observations poured out before him.

He knew nothing of the skill by which these abilities were guided, nor
how, like cunning shopkeepers dressing their wares to most advantage,
such men exhibit their qualities with all the artifice of display. He
never suspected the subtle flattery by which he was led to fancy himself
the intimate of men whose names were freely talked of before him, till
at length the atmosphere of the great world was to him like the air he
had breathed from childhood.

"How the Prince would have relished O'Reilly!" said the Viscount to
Twining, in a whisper easily overheard. "That racy humor, that strong
native common-sense, that vigorous disregard of petty obstacles wherever
he is bent on following out a path,--his royal Highness would have
appreciated all these."

"Unquestionably--been charmed with them--thought him most
agreeable--great fun."

"You remind me of O'Kelly,--Colonel O'Kelly,--O'Reilly; strange enough,
too, each of you should be of that same old Celtic blood. But, perhaps,
it is just that very element that gives you the peculiar social
fascination I was alluding to. You are not old enough, Twining, to
remember that small house with the bay-windows opening on the Birdcage
Walk; it was like a country parsonage dropped down in the midst of
London, with honeysuckles over the porch, and peacocks on the lawn
in front of it. O'Kelly and Payne lived there together,--the two
pleasantest bachelors that ever joined in partnership. The Prince dined
with them by agreement every Friday. The charm of the thing was no
state, no parade, whatever. It was just as if O'Reilly here were to take
this villa, and say, 'Now, Lackington, I am rich enough to enjoy myself;
I don't want the worry and fatigue of hunting out the pleasant people
of the world; but you know them all, you understand them,--their ways,
their wants, and their requirements; just tell me, frankly, could n't we
manage to make this their rallying-spot throughout Europe? Settled down
here in the midst of the most lovely scenery in the world, with a
good cook and a good cellar, might not this place become a perfect
Paradise?'"

"If I only knew that your Lordship, just yourself alone, and, of course,
the present company," added O'Reilly, with a bow round the table, "would
vouchsafe me the honor of a visit, I'd be proud to be the owner of this
place to-morrow. Indeed, I don't see why we would n't be