that if her Ladyship dined at any
one of the three, he would certainly join that party, and _cut_ the
other two.

At this moment, a mad-brained ruffian of quality, with a splendid
equipage, came driving by with four in hand, and exclaimed as he flew
past, in an affected tone,--"All! Tom, my dear fellow,--why where the
devil have you hid yourself of late?" The speed of his cattle prevented
the possibility of reply. "Although you see him in such excellent trim,"
observed Tom to Lady Jane, "though his cattle and equipage are so well
appointed, would you suppose, it, he has but just made his appearance
from the Bench after _white-washing?_ But he is a noble spirited
fellow," remarked the exquisite, "drives the best horses, and is one of
the first whips in town; always gallant and gay, full of life and good
humour; and, I am happy to say, he has now a dozen of as fine horses
as any in Christendom, _bien entendu_, kept in my name." After this
explanation of the characters of his friend and his horses, he kissed
his hand to her Ladyship, and was out of sight in an instant, "Adieu,
adieu, thou dear, delightful sprig of fashion!" said Lady Jane, as he
left the side of the carriage.--"Fashion and folly," said Tom, half
whispering, and recalling to his mind the following lines:--

"Oh! Fashion, to thy wiles, thy votaries owe
Unnumber'd pangs of sharp domestic woe.
What broken tradesmen and abandon'd wives
Curse thy delusion through their wretched lives;
What pale-faced spinsters vent on thee their rage,
And youths decrepid e're they come of age."

His moralizing reverie was however interrupted by her Ladyship,
who perceiving a group of females decked in the extreme of Parisian
fashions, "there," said she, "there is all that taffeta, feathers,
flowers, and lace can do; and yet you see by their loud talking, their
being unattended by a servant, and by the bit of straw adhering to the
pettycoat of one of them, that they come all the way from Fish Street
Hill, or the Borough, in a hackney-coach, and are now trying to play off
the airs of women of fashion."

Mrs. Marvellous now drew up close to the party. "My dear Lady Jane,"
said she, "1 am positively suffocated with dust, and sickened with
vulgarity; but to be sure we ~20~~have every thing in London here, from
the House of Peers to Waterloo House. I must tell you about the
trial, and Lady Barbara's mortification, and a