there was scarce one that did not
admire her, and envy the lucky rogue her husband. Of those ladies who,
in their walks from their own vehicles, passed her ladyship's, there was
scarce one lady in society who did not say, "is that all?--is that the
beauty you are all talking about so much? She is overrated; she looks
stupid; she is over-dressed; she squints;" and so forth; whilst of the
men who _did_ happen to have the honor of an acquaintance with Lady
Raikes and her husband (and many a man, who had thought Raikes rather
stupid in his bachelor days, was glad enough to know him now), each as
he came to the carriage, and partook of the excellent luncheon provided
there, had the most fascinating grins and ogles for the lady, and the
most triumphant glances for all the rest of the world,--glances which
seemed to say, "Look, you rascals, I know Lady Raikes; you don't know
Lady Raikes. I can drink a glass of champagne to Lady Raikes's health.
What would you give, you dog, to have such a sweet smile from Lady
Raikes? Did you ever see such eyes? did you ever see such a complexion?
did you ever see such a killing pink dress, and such a dear little
delightfully carved ivory parasol?"--Raikes had it carved for her last
year at Baden, when they were on their wedding-trip. It has their coats
of arms and their ciphers intertwined elegantly round the stalk--a J and
a Z; her name is Zuleika; before she was married she was Zuleika
Trotter. Her elder sister, Medora, married Lord T--mn--ddy; her younger,
Haidee, is engaged to the eldest son of the second son of a noble D-ke.
The Trotters are of a good family. Dolly Trotter, Zuleika's brother, was
in the same regiment (and that, I need not say, an extremely heavy one)
with Sir Joseph Raikes.

He did not call himself Joseph then: quite the contrary. Larkyn Raikes,
before his marriage, was one of the wildest and most irregular of our
British youth. Let us not allude--he would blush to hear them--to the
particulars of his past career. He turned away his servant for screwing
up one of the knockers which he had removed during the period of his own
bachelorhood, from an eminent physician's house in Saville Row, on the
housekeeper's door at Larkyn Hall. There are whole hampers of those
knockers stowed away somewhere, and snuff-taking Highlanders, and tin
hats, and black boys,--the trophies of his youth, which Raikes would
like to send back to their owners, did he know them; and when he carried