ostentatiously, by the way they carried their
shakoes or their bayonets, or wore their coats open and unbuttoned, that
they no longer respected the claims of discipline.

Patrols on foot or horseback would be met, too; but the men, under no
restraint, would not only exchange words of greeting with the mob, but
accept offers of wine or cigars; and it was seen that the officers were
either powerless to prevent or unwilling to curb this indiscipline.

"What does all this portend, Damer?" asked Sir Arthur. "We hear cheers
for the King; but all I see seems to threaten his downfall."

Skeffy was puzzled, and a wiser man might have been puzzled; but his
diplomatic instincts forbade such a humiliating avowal, and so he merely
muttered something to the purport that "We" had not fully determined
what was to be the issue; and that till "We" had made up our minds, all
these signs and portents were mere street-noises.

If I am not perfectly just to him in this rendering of his explanation,
I am, at least, merciful to my reader; and, leaving the party to follow
out the exploration, I shall return to the drawing-room they had just
quitted, and where Alice now sat alone, and deep in thought The yells
and cries that filled the street outside, and the continual uproar that
resounded through the city, were all unheeded by her; and so immersed
was she in her reflection, that when a servant entered the room to
present the card of a visitor, she was unaware of his presence till he
had twice addressed her.

"It cannot be for us," said she, looking at the name. "I do not know the
Count d'Amalfi."

"He hopes to be better remembered as Mr. Maitland," said that gentleman,
as, pushing wide the half-opened door, he approached her and made a low
bow.

The servant had time to retire and shut the door before Alice had
sufficiently recovered herself to ask Maitland to be seated. So coldly
was the request conveyed, however, that if he was not determined on
having an interview, he would have affected to make his call an offer
of some sort of attention, and taken his leave almost on the instant Far
different were his present intentions; and as he deposited his hat
and cane, and took his place in front of her, there was a methodical
slowness that indicated purpose.

"I am almost afraid to tell you, Mr. Maitland," she began, "that I gave
orders to be denied to all visitors. They have all gone out to drive,
and--"

"It was for that reason that I t