wo. The prince sat
down, and bade the ladies sit. The gentlemen remained standing; there was,
indeed, but one more cover laid at the table:--"Which of you will take it?"
says he.

"The head of our house," says Lady Castlewood, taking her son's hand, and
looking towards Colonel Esmond with a bow and a great tremor of the voice;
"the Marquis of Esmond will have the honour of serving the king."

"I shall have the honour of waiting on his royal highness," says Colonel
Esmond, filling a cup of wine, and, as the fashion of that day was, he
presented it to the king on his knee.

"I drink to my hostess and her family," says the prince, with no very
well-pleased air; but the cloud passed immediately off his face, and he
talked to the ladies in a lively, rattling strain, quite undisturbed by
poor Mr. Esmond's yellow countenance, that I dare say looked very glum.

When the time came to take leave, Esmond marched homewards to his
lodgings, and met Mr. Addison on the road that night, walking to a cottage
he had at Fulham, the moon shining on his handsome serene face:--"What
cheer, brother?" says Addison, laughing; "I thought it was a footpad
advancing in the dark, and behold 'tis an old friend. We may shake hands,
colonel, in the dark, 'tis better than fighting by daylight. Why should we
quarrel, because I am a Whig and thou art a Tory? Turn thy steps and walk
with me to Fulham, where there is a nightingale still singing in the
garden, and a cool bottle in a cave I know of; you shall drink to the
Pretender if you like, and I will drink my liquor my own way: I have had
enough of good liquor?--no, never! There is no such word as enough as a
stopper for good wine. Thou wilt not come? Come any day, come soon. You
know I remember _Simois_ and the _Sigeia tellus_, and the _praelia mixta
mero, mixta mero_," he repeated, with ever so slight a touch of _merum_ in
his voice, and walked back a little way on the road with Esmond, bidding
the other remember he was always his friend, and indebted to him for his
aid in the _Campaign_ poem. And very likely Mr. Under Secretary would have
stepped in and taken t'other bottle at the colonel's lodgings, had the
latter invited him, but Esmond's mood was none of the gayest, and he bade
his friend an inhospitable good-night at the door.

"I have done the deed," thought he, sleepless, and looking out into the
night; "he is here, and I have brought him; he and Beatrix are sleeping
under the same roof now