ear Jacquemin,
perfect! An idyl! All the arrangements are exquisite, exquisite! I only
wish that you had charge of the supper."

Jacquemin, general overseer of the Baroness's parties in the Rue
Murillo, did not confess himself inferior to any one as an epicure. He
would taste the wines, with the air of a connoisseur, holding his glass
up to the light, while the liquor caressed his palate, and shutting his
eyes as if more thoroughly to decide upon its merits.

"Pomard!" would slowly fall from his lips, or "Acceptable Musigny!"
"This Chambertin is really very fair!" "The Chateau Yquem is not half
bad!" etc., etc. And the next morning would appear in the reports,
which he wrote himself under various pseudonyms: "Our compliments to
our friend Jacquemin, if he had anything to do with the selection of
the wines, in addition to directing the rehearsals of the Baroness's
operetta, which latter work he most skilfully accomplished. Jacquemin
possesses talents of all kinds; he knows how to make the best of all
materials. As the proverb says, 'A good mill makes everything flour.'"

Jacquemin had already cast an eye over the menu of the Prince's fete,
and declared it excellent, very correct, very pure.

....................

The steamer was at last ready to depart, and Prince Zilah had done
the honors to all his guests. It started slowly off, the flags waving
coquettishly in the breeze, while the Tzigani musicians played with
spirit the vibrating notes of the March of Rakoczy, that triumphant
air celebrating the betrothal of Zilah, as it had long ago saluted the
burial of his father.

CHAPTER X. "IS FATE SO JUST?"

"We are moving! We are off!" cried the lively little Baroness. "I hope
we shan't be shipwrecked," retorted Jacquemin; and he then proceeded
to draw a comical picture of possible adventures wherein figured white
bears, icebergs, and death by starvation. "A subject for a novel,--'The
Shipwreck of the Betrothed.'"

As they drew away from Paris, passing the quays of Passy and the taverns
of Point-du-jour, tables on wooden horses were rapidly erected, and
covered with snowy cloths; and soon the guests of the Prince were seated
about the board, Andras between Marsa and the Baroness, and Michel Menko
some distance down on the other side of the table. The pretty women and
fashionably dressed men made the air resound with gayety and laughter,
while the awnings flapped joyously in the wind, and the boat gli