ture luxurious, and its
illuminations splendid. Three enormous chandeliers, like constellations,
flooded the scene with light, and a fine brass band, somewhere out of
sight, filled the air with music. A brilliant company enlivened, but did
not crowd, the room. There were assembled beautiful girls, handsome
women, gorgeous old ladies; there were officers of the army and of the
navy in their full-dress uniforms; there were the diplomatic corps of
all foreign nations in the costumes of their several ranks and
countries; there were grave senators and wise judges and holy divines;
there were Indian chiefs in their beads and blankets; there were
adventurous Poles from Warsaw; exiled Bourbons from Paris; and Comanche
braves from the Cordilleras! There was, in fact, such a curious
assemblage as can be met with nowhere on the face of the earth but in
the east drawing room of our President's palace on a great reception
evening!

Into this motley but splendid assemblage Judge Merlin led his beautiful
daughter. At first her entrance attracted no attention; but when one,
and then another, noticed the dazzling new star of beauty that had so
suddenly risen above their horizon, a whisper arose that soon grew into
a general buzz of admiration that attended Claudia in her progress
through the room and heralded her approach to those at the upper end.
And--

"Who is she?" "Who can she be?" were the low-toned questions that
reached her ear as her father led her to a sofa and rested her upon it.
But these questions came only from those who were strangers in
Washington. Of course all others knew the person of Judge Merlin, and
surmised the young lady on his arm to be his daughter.

Soon after the judge and his party were seated, his friends began to
come forward to pay their respects to him, and to be presented to his
beautiful daughter.

Claudia received all these with a self-possession, grace, and
fascination peculiarly her own.

There was no doubt about it--Miss Merlin's first entrance into society
had been a great success; she had made a sensation.

Among those presented to Miss Merlin on that occasion was the Honorable
---- ----, the British minister. He was young, handsome, accomplished,
and a bachelor. Consequently he was a target for all the shafts of Cupid
that ladies' eyes could send.

He offered his arm to Miss Merlin for a promenade through the room. She
accepted it, and became as much the envy of every unmarried lady pre