es, with bare shoulders showing well above the colverteen
kerchief and faces wherein every line had been obliterated by plentiful
daubs of cosmetics. They moved about the room from table to table,
laughing, talking, making comments on the games as these proceeded.

The men apparently were all intent--either as actual participants or
merely as spectators--upon a form of amusement which His Highness the
Lord Protector had condemned as wanton and contrary to law.

The newcomers soon divested themselves of their immense dark cloaks,
and they, too, appeared in showy apparel of silk and satin, with tiny
bows of ribands at the ends of the long curls which fell both sides of
their faces, and with enormous frills of lace inside the turned-over
tops of their boots.

Lord Walterton quite straddled in his gait, so wide were his boot tops,
and there was an extraordinary maze of tags and ribands round the edge
of Sir James Overbury's breeches.

"Make your game, gentlemen, make your game," said the latter as he
advanced further into the room. And his tired, sleepy eyes brightened at
sight of the several tables covered with cards and dice, the guttering
candles, the mountains of gold and small coin scattered on the green
baize tops.

"Par Dieu! but 'tis a sight worth seeing after the ugly sour faces one
meets in town these days!" he added, gleefully rubbing his beringed
hands one against the other.

"But where is our gracious hostess?" added Lord Walterton, a
melancholy-looking young man with pale-colored eyes and lashes, and a
narrow chest.

"You are thrice welcome, my lord!" said Editha de Chavasse, whose
elegant figure now detached itself from amongst her guests.

She looked very handsome in her silken kirtle of a brilliant greenish
hue, lace primer, and high-heeled shoes--relics of her theatrical days;
her head was adorned with the bunches of false curls which the modish
hairdressers were trying to introduce. The plentiful use of cosmetics
had obliterated the ravages of time and imparted a youthful appearance
to her face, whilst excitement not unmixed with apprehension lent a
bright glitter to her dark eyes.

Lord Walterton and Sir James Overbury lightly touched with their lips
the hand which she extended to them. Their bow, too, was slight, though
they tossed their curls as they bent their heads in the most approved
French fashion. But there was a distinct note of insolence, not
altogether unmixed with irony, in the fre