ture from its frame, a dark-eyed figure, dressed like a Marquise of
Louis XIV.'s time, with powdered hair, sparkling with diamonds.

"_Rien que m'amuser_," he replied, with ready presence of mind, in the
same tone, and then added,--"Permit me, Madame, to present to you a
charming specimen of our genuine New England flowers. Miss Scudder,
I have the honor to present you to the acquaintance of Madame de
Frontignac."

"I am very happy," said the lady, with that sweet, lisping accentuation
of English which well became her lovely mouth. "Miss Scudder, I hope, is
very well."

Mary replied in the affirmative,--her eyes resting the while with
pleased admiration on the graceful, animated face and diamond-bright
eyes which seemed looking her through.

"_Monsieur la trouve bien seduisante apparemment_" said the stranger,
in a low, rapid voice, to the gentleman, in a manner which showed a
mingling of pique and admiration.

"_Petite jalouse! rassure-toi_," he replied, with a look and manner into
which, with that mobile force which was peculiar to him, he threw the
most tender and passionate devotion. "_Ne suis-je pas a toi tout a
fait_?"--and as he spoke, he offered her his other arm. "Allow me to be
an unworthy link between the beauty of France and America."

The lady swept a proud curtsy backward, bridled her beautiful neck, and
signed for them to pass her. "I am waiting here for a friend," she said.

"Whatever is your will is mine," replied Burr, bowing with proud
humility, and passing on with Mary to the supper-room.

Here the company were fast assembling, in that high tide of good-humor
which generally sets in at this crisis of the evening.

The scene, in truth, was a specimen of a range of society which in those
times could have been assembled nowhere else but in Newport. There stood
Dr. H. in the tranquil majesty of his lordly form, and by his side, the
alert, compact figure of his contemporary and theological opponent, Dr.
Stiles, who, animated by the social spirit of the hour, was dispensing
courtesies to right and left with the debonair grace of the trained
gentleman of the old school. Near by, and engaging from time to time in
conversation with them, stood a Jewish Rabbin, whose olive complexion,
keen eye, and flowing beard gave a picturesque and foreign grace to the
scene. Colonel Burr, one of the most brilliant and distinguished men of
the New Republic, and Colonel de Frontignac, who had won for himself
laurel