ssed the least
friendship or affection. He was, however, very new to "the world," and
the strange understanding on which its daily intercourse, its social
life of dinners, visits, and _dejeuners_ subsists, was perfectly unknown
to him. He had much to learn; but as his nature was of an inquiring
character, he was as equal as he was well inclined to its task. It was
then, with less enjoyment of the scene for its absurdity, than actually
as an occasion to acquire knowledge of people and modes of living
hitherto unknown, he listened gravely to the present discussion, and sat
with attentive ears to hear who was to take in Lady Janet, and whether
Sir Archy should precede the Chief Justice or not; if a Dragoon Colonel
should take the _pas_ of an Attorney-General, and whether it made the
same difference in an individual's rank that it did in his comfort, that
he was on the half-pay list When real rank is concerned, few things are
easier than the arrangement of such details; the rules are simple, the
exceptions few, if any; but in a society where the distinctions are
inappreciable, where the designations are purely professional, an
algebraic equation is simpler of solution than such difficulties.

Then came a very animated debate as to the places at table, wherein lay
the extreme difficulty of having every one away from the fire and nobody
in a draught, except, of course, those little valued guests who really
appeared to play the ignoble part of mortar in a great edifice, being
merely the cohesive ingredient that averted friction between more
important materials. Next came the oft-disputed question as to whether
the champagne should be served with the _petits pates_, after the fish,
or at a remote stage of the second course, the young ladies being
eager advocates of the former, Mrs. Kennyfeck as firmly denouncing the
practice as a new-fangled thing, that "the Dean" himself said he had
never seen at Christchurch; but the really great debate arose on a still
more knotty point, and one on which it appeared the family had brought
in various bills, without ever discovering the real remedy. It was by
what means--of course, moral force means--it were possible to induce old
Lady Blennerbore to rise from table whenever Mrs. Kennyfeck had decreed
that move to be necessary.

It was really moving to listen to Mrs. Kennyfeck's narratives of signals
unnoticed and signs unattended to; that even on the very last day her
Ladyship had dined ther