"They have no lack of brains, and are quite able to
shift for themselves and mother too, if only they have to do it, even
if she were a pauper, which she isn't."
But it was with a less lightsome heart that Jock went to his quarters
to prepare for a fancy ball, where he expected to meet Elvira, though
whether he should approach her or not would depend on her own
caprice.
It was a very splendid affair. A whole back garden, had been
transformed into a vast pavilion, containing an Armida's garden,
whose masses of ferns and piles of gorgeous flowers made delightful
nooks for strangers who left the glare of the dancing-room, and the
quaint dresses harmonised with the magic of the gaslight and the
strange forms of the exotics.
The simple scarlet of the young Guardsman was undistinguished among
the brilliant character-groups which represented old fairy tales and
nursery rhymes. There were 'The White Cat and her Prince,' 'Puss-in-
Boots and the Princess,' 'Little Snowflake and her Bear,' and,
behold, here was the loveliest Fatima ever seen, in the well-known
Algerine dress, mated with a richly robed and turbaned hero, whose
beard was blue, though in ordinary life red, inasmuch as he was Lady
Flora's impecunious and not very reputable Scottish peer of a
brother.
Pages:
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612