ices and white sleeves, reminded me of Miss Warmestre."

The arrival of the King and his mistress is beautifully told, as are the
costumes described, nay, coloured, for they are like highly-finished
portraits.

_Charles and his Court at Epsom_.

"The King!--The silence now seemed to become more silent; and in spite of
the opinions in which I had been brought up, I felt what it was to be in
the presence of one who inherited sovereign power. His Majesty himself
alighted first, and together with Buckingham, presented his hand to assist
the Queen. Then came a handsome boy, Mr. Crofts (afterwards Duke of
Monmouth); and last, assisted by her cousin the Duke, the long looked for
beauty, beautiful indeed, triumphantly beautiful. She looked around, and
the spectators could hardly refrain from another shout.

"The dress at that time was well calculated to set off a woman to
advantage. Lady Castlemain was dressed in white and green, with an open
boddice of pink, looped with diamonds. Her sleeves were green, looped up
full on the shoulders with jewelry, and showing the white shift beneath,
richly trimmed with lace. The boddice was long and close, with a very low
tucker. The petticoat fell in ample folds, but not so long as to keep the
ankles unexposed; and it was relieved from an appearance of too much
weight by the very weightiness of the hanging sleeves, which
counterpoising its magnitude, and looking flowery with lace and ribbons,
left the arms free at the elbows, and fell down behind on either side. The
hair was dressed wide, with ringlets at the cheeks; and the fair vision
held a fan in one hand, while the Duke led her by the other. When she had
ascended the steps, and came walking up the terrace, the lowness of her
dress in the bosom, the visibility of her trim ankles, and the flourishing
massiness of the rest of her apparel, produced the effect, not of a woman
over-dressed, but of a dress displaying a woman; and she came on,
breathing rosy perfection, like the queen of the gardens.

"I did not see all this at the time; there was not leisure for it; but I
had the general impression, which I reduced into detail afterwards. The
spectators forgot everybody but the King and her. His Majesty, at that
period of his life, (he was little more than thirty,) looked at his best,
and I thought I never saw a manlier face, or a more graceful figure. He
was in mulberry coloured velvet and gold. He not only took off his hat in
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