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hemselves from the shock of such august names, Lord Charles Frobisher and Captain Foster. Sir Andrew was a tall, raw-boned, high-cheeked old man, with a white head, red nose, and a very Scotch accent, whose manners, after forty years' training, still spoke of the time that he carried a halbert in the "Black Watch." Lady Janet was a little, grim-faced, gray-eyed old lady, with a hunch, who, with a most inveterate peevishness of voice and a most decided tendency to make people unhappy, was the terror of the garrison. "We hae na kept ye waitin', Mrs. Kannyfack, I humbly hope?" said Sir Andrew. "A good forty minutes, Sir Andrew," broke in Lord Kilgoff, showing his watch; "but you are always the last." "He was not recorded as such in the official despatch from 'Maida,' my Lord," said Lady Janet, fiercely; "but with some people there is more virtue in being early at dinner than first up the breach in an assault!" "The siege will always keep hot, my Lady," interposed a very well-whiskered gentleman in a blue coat and two inside waistcoats; "the soup will not." "Ah, Mr. Linton," said she, holding out two fingers, "why were n't you at our picnic?" Then she added, lower: "Give me your arm in to dinner. I can't bear that tiresome old man." Linton bowed and seemed delighted, while a scarcely perceptible motion of the brows conveyed an apology to Miss Kennyfeck. Dinner was at length announced, and after a little of what Sir Andrew called "clubbing the battalions," they descended in a long procession. Cashel, after vainly essaying to secure either of the Kennyfeck girls as his companion, being obliged to pair off with Mrs. White, the lady who always declined, but never failed to come. It is a singular fact in the physiology of Amphytrionism, that second-class people can always succeed in a "great dinner," though they fail egregiously in all attempts at a small party. We reserve the reason for another time, to record the fact that Mrs. Kennyfeck's table was both costly and splendid. The soups were admirable, the Madeira perfect in flavor, the pates as hot and the champagne as cold, the fish as fresh and the venison as long kept, the curry as high seasoned and the pine-apple ice as delicately simple, as the most refined taste could demand. The material enjoyments were provided with elegance and abundance, and the guests--the little chagrin of the long waiting over--all disposed to be chatty and agreeable. Like a
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