tinguished by rank
and personal appearance, in reality, their characters had little claim
to his respect. With such success did he demolish reputations--so
fatally did his sarcasms depreciate those against whom they were
directed--that, ere long, Mark moved along in utter contempt for that
gorgeous throng, which at first had impressed him so profoundly. To
hear that the proud-looking general, his coat a blaze of orders, was
a coward; that the benign and mild-faced judge was a merciless,
unrelenting tyrant; that the bishop, whose simple bearing and
gentle quietude of manner were most winning, was in reality a crafty
place-hunter and a subtle "intrigant"--such were the lessons Talbot
poured into his ear, while amid the ranks of beauty still more deadly
calumnies pointed all he said.

"Society is rotten to the very core here, Mark," said he, bitterly.
"There never was a land nor an age when profligacy stood so high in the
market. It remains to be seen if our friends will do better--for a time,
at least, they are almost certain to do so; but now, that I have shown
you something of the company, let us separate, lest we be remarked.
This pillar can always be our rallying spot. Whenever you want me, come
here;" and so saying, and with a slight pressure of his hand, Talbot
mixed with the crowd, and soon was lost to Mark's view.

Talbot's revelations served at first to impair the pleasure Mark
experienced in the brilliant scene around him; but when once more alone,
the magnetic influence of a splendour so new, and of beauty so dazzling,
appealed to his heart far more powerfully than the cold sarcasms of his
companion. Glances which, directed to others, he caught in passing, and
felt with a throb of ecstasy within his own bosom; bright eyes, that
beamed not for him, sent a glow of delight through his frame. The
atmosphere of pleasure which he had never breathed before, now warmed
the current of his blood, and his pulse beat high and madly. All the
bitter thoughts he had harboured against his country's enemies could
not stand before his admiration of that gorgeous assemblage, and he felt
ashamed to think that he, and such as he, should conspire the downfall
of a system, whose very externals were so captivating. He wandered thus
from room to room in a dream of pleasure--now stopping to gaze at
the dancers, then moving towards some of the refreshment-rooms, where
parties were seated in familiar circles, all in the full enjoyment
o