ssed; but as he wears glasses, he looks very
interesting. They say that his brother, the Earl, has picked up his
great wealth in a most unaccountable manner, and that the whole family
have a singular want of discrimination in the meaning of the words
_meum_ and _tuum_. His partner, who had a nice, dove-coloured dress on,
appeared very desirous of pleasing the young Lord, and I thought they
seemed very happy together. The other couples were Sir Hector
Downcharge, of Kennelhouse, a great sportsman, who came in his militia
uniform, and Miss Pie, the daughter of the celebrated Mrs. Margaret, or
Mag Pie, as her neighbours call her. And opposite to them were a Mr.
Puddock, a person connected with the City, who, through the death of a
relative, has just come into possession of a fine marshy estate among
the Lincolnshire Fens; and Miss Lavinia Greyhound, who, as all the world
knows, was a long time engaged to young Hare, who ran away from her in a
very shameful way, and hurt her feelings so much that she did not appear
again in public for several months.

Drinkwater and I stood aside, and entertained ourselves with quiet
remarks to each other, not always complimentary to the company. He
thought Miss Pie the prettiest of the dancers, and certainly she was
sweetly dressed, and looked very well. Her partner, Sir Hector, was,
without doubt, the handsomest of the gentlemen, though he appeared to me
to give himself airs, like an overfed spaniel that has been too much
petted, and to lounge about in a way not at all becoming a lady's
ball-room. The little fellow from the City, his _vis-a-vis_, was a very
different person--he seemed determined to let us all know that he had
lately been taking twelve dancing-lessons of Madame Hopper, for he
turned his toes out in the most _elegant_ way, and was evidently quite
impressed with a belief that he was astonishing the spectators with his
surprising agility. The very tie of his cravat made Drinkwater nearly
die with suppressed laughter; and when the youth began dancing, we were
obliged to take a walk into the adjoining Conservatory, lest our
merriment should be discovered. I never knew a more delightful place
than this Conservatory; the flowers in it are brighter than I have seen
elsewhere; and some that Drinkwater gathered for me were far sweeter
than any I had ever known before. We staid sometime in this Conservatory
looking at the beautiful exotics, and talking of _nothing_ else but of
them a