t fond
of meeting "Royal Highnesses," before whom his own equivocal rank
sank into insignificance; nor did he love "Cardinals," whose haughty
pretensions always over-topped every other nobility. To oblige Lady
Hester, however, he did come, and condescended, for "the nonce," to
assume his most amiable of moods. The Marchesa Guardoni, an old coquette
of the days of the French Empire, but now a rigid devotee, and a most
exclusive moralist; a few elderly diplomates, of a quiet and cat-like
smoothness of manner, with certain notabilities of the Court, made up
the party. There were no English whatever; Jekyl, who made out the
list, well knowing that Florence offered none of a rank sufficiently
distinguished, except Norwood, whose temporary absence from the city
was rather a boon than the reverse; for the noble Viscount, when not
"slang," was usually silent, and, by long intercourse with the Turf and
its followers, had ceased to feel any interest in topics which could not
end in a wager.

The entertainment was very splendid. Nothing was wanting which luxury or
taste could contribute. The wines were delicious; the cookery perfect.
The guests were courteous and pleasing; but all was of the quietest,
none of the witty sallies, the piquant anecdotes, the brilliant
repartees, which usually pattered like hail around that board.
Still less were heard those little histories of private life where
delinquencies furnish all the interest. The royal guest imposed a
reserve which the presence of the Cardinal deepened. The conversation,
like the cuisine, was flavored for fine palates; both were light,
suggestive, and of easy digestion. Events were discussed rather than the
actors in them. All was ease and simplicity; but it was a stately kind
of simplicity, which served to chill those that were unaccustomed to it.
So Kate Dalton felt it; and however sad the confession, we must own that
she greatly preferred the free and easy tone of Lady Hester's midnight
receptions to the colder solemnity of these distinguished guests.

Even to the Cardinal's whist-table, everything wore a look of state and
solemnity. The players laid down their cards with a measured gravity,
and scored their honors with the air of men discharging a high and
important function. As for the Archduke, he sat upon a sofa beside
Lady Hester, suffering himself to be amused by the resources of her
small-talk, bowing blandly at times, occasionally condescending to a
smile, but ra