bright orange through
the slits of the window-blinds; but now, as the day broke over the
maples, the shutters were flung open by laughing young men, and the
drivers of the carriages, waiting in the dusty street, pressed up closer
to the hedge, or came within and stretched themselves upon the lawn,
to see the people waltzing in the daylight. The horses, having no such
desires, stood with loosened check-reins, slightly twitching their upper
lips, wistful of the tall grass which bordered the wooden sidewalk,
though now and then one would lift his head high, sniffing the morning
air and bending an earnest gaze not upon the dancers but upon the florid
east.

Over the unwearied plaint of French-horn, violin, and bassoon, rose
a silvery confusion of voices and laughter and the sound of a hundred
footfalls in unison, while, from the open windows there issued a warm
breath, heavily laden with the smell of scented fans, of rich fabrics,
of dying roses, to mingle with the spicy perfume of a wild crab-tree
in fullest blossom, which stood near enough to peer into the ball-room,
and, like a brocaded belle herself, challenge the richest to show
raiment as fine, the loveliest to look as fair and joyful in the dawn..

"Believe me, of all those endearing young charms, Which I gaze on so
fondly to-day, Were to fade by to-morrow and fleet from my arms, Like
fairy gifts fading away--"

So ran the violins in waltz time, so bassoon and horn to those dulcet
measures; and then, with one accord, a hundred voices joined them in the
old, sweet melody:

"Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art, Let thy
loveliness fade as it will; And around the dear ruin each wish of my
heart Would entwine itself verdantly still."

And the jealous crab-tree found but one to overmatch itself in beauty:
a lady who was the focus of the singing; for, by the time the shutters
were flung open, there was not a young man in the room, lacked he never
so greatly in music or in voice, who did not heartily desire to sing
to Miss Betty Carewe, and who did not now (craning neck over partner's
shoulder) seek to fix her with his glittering eye, while he sang "Oh,
believe me" most directly and conspicuously at her. For that night was
the beginning of Miss Betty's famous career as the belle of Rouen, and
was the date from which strangers were to hear of her as "the beautiful
Miss Carewe," until "beautiful" was left off, visitors to the town being
supposed to have