ich attracted universal remark. It was then
Honoria abdicated that throne of conventional purity which hitherto she
had held undisputed. Women who were plain in her presence outshone
Honoria, by meeting this ducal apparition, that called itself
Rosecouleur,--and which might have been, for aught they knew, a fume of
the Infernal, shaped to deceive us all,--with calm and haughty propriety.

The sensation did not subside. The music of the waltz invited a renewal of
that intoxicating whirl which isolates friends and lovers, in whispering
and sighing pairs, in the midst of a great assemblage. All the world
looked on, when Honoria Denslow placed her hand upon the shoulder of the
Duke of Rosecouleur, and the noble and beautiful forms began silently and
smoothly turning, with a dream-like motion. Soon she lifted her lovely
eyes and steadied their rays upon his. She leaned wholly upon his arm, and
the gloved hands completed the magnetic circle. At the close of the first
waltz, she rested a moment, leaning upon his shoulder, and his hand still
held hers,--a liberty often assumed and permitted, but not to the nobles
and the monarchs of society. She fell farther, and her ideal beauty faded
into a sensuous.

Honoria was lost. Dalton saw it. We retired together to a room apart. He
was dispirited; called for and drank rapidly a bottle of Champagne;--it
was insufficient.

"De Vere," said he, "affairs go badly."

"Explain."

"This cursed thing that people call a duke--it kills me."

"I saw."

"Of course you did;--the world saw; the servants saw. Honoria has fallen
to-night. I shall transfer my allegiance."

"And Denslow?"

"A born sycophant;--he thinks it natural that his wife should love a duke,
and a duke love his wife."

"So would you, if you were any other than you are."

"Faugh! it is human nature."

"Not so; would you not as soon strangle this Rosecouleur for making love
to your wife in public, as you would another man?"

"Rather."

"Pooh! I give you up. If you had
simply said, 'Yes,' it would have satisfied me."

Dalton seemed perplexed. He called a servant and sent him with an order
for Nalson, the usher, to come instantly to him.

Nalson appeared, with his white gloves and mahogany face.

"Nalson, you were a servant of the Duke in England?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is the person now in the rooms the Duke of Rosecouleur?"

"I have not seen him, Sir."

"Go immediately, study the man well,--do you hear?--and com