"Hem!" rejoined Lord Baskerville; "I must beg your Ladyship would limit what you say to yourself. It is (hem!) a liberty I never take with you, to say what you would or would not do (hem!)" Upon this a silence ensued in the trio; when a few minutes broke the awkwardness occasioned by it, and they found themselves arrived at Sir William Temple's door.
Lord Tonnerre offered his arm to Lady Baskerville as they alighted; while Lord Baskerville, to avoid the unfashionable appearance of entering the room with his wife, stopped, seemingly for the purpose of giving orders to his servants, till such time as he imagined he could walk in alone. There were arrived of the party only Lady Tilney and Prince Luttermanne. Lord Baskerville, having made his bow, retired to a sofa, discomposed at finding that the Comtesse Leinsengen, on whose appearance he had staked the whole of his consequence, and the excuse of his presence, was not yet come. Lord Tonnerre too, displeased that Sir William Temple continued to occupy Lady Baskerville with the profusion of his acknowledgments for the honour done him, and that Lady Tilney appeared too much engaged to notice any one, stood for some moments in gloomy silence, when at length Lord Somerton entered.
"How d'ye do, Somerton?—glad to see you," was Sir William's salutation to his guest, as he held out a finger to him, and continued talking to Lady Baskerville.
"Tonnerre," said Lord Somerton, turning away from this brief reception with a degree of contempt; "come aside, I have something to tell you;" when a deep discussion on matters interesting and intelligible to the former seemed to ensue, since it was productive of a partial relaxation of the scowl which generally characterized his face when he felt himself, as in the present instance, overlooked, or when subjects indifferent to him, or above his comprehension, were alluded to.
Lady Tilney, hitherto absorbed in her conversation with Prince Luttermanne, now looked up, and addressing Lady Baskerville with an air of protection, invited her to come and take the seat next to her. "What a vastly pretty cap you have on!—do tell me where you got it; and, my dear Lady Baskerville, if you have nothing better to do, pray don't forget to come to me to-morrow night. Have you seen any thing of Lord Albert D'Esterre to-day? What do you think of him? I can hardly understand him yet; sometimes I think one thing, sometimes another. They say he is a Methodist—how extraordinary! if he was not young, or not handsome, or not d'une bonne tournure, one might suppose such a thing; but as it is I don't believe it—do you?"
"I have not seen enough of him to judge," was the cautious reply (for Lady Baskerville could be cautious where so deep a stake was at hazard as fashionable consideration); "but I think he rather affects singularity."
"Perhaps so; but then you know he will soon correct that fault when he has lived a little longer amongst us. I have heard that he is engaged to be married;—do you know if it is true?"
"I did hear," said Lady Baskerville, "something about a Lady Adeline Seymour, a cousin of his who has been brought up in the shades, and is said to be a world's wonder of beauty, and purity, and perfection; but the engagement was an affair of the papa's and mamma's, and probably the parties themselves will hate each other in consequence."
At this moment the Comtesse Leinsengen was announced, and then followed Lord and Lady Boileau, Lady Hamlet Vernon, Mr. Spencer Newcombe, and Lord Gascoigne, each received with that portion and kind of welcome which marked a well-studied knowledge of Debrett on the part of Sir William Temple, who felt himself the deity of the day, and who, complimentary, facetious, pompous, affairé, and familiar by turns, according to the calibre of the person he addressed, moved about the apartments like some presiding Joss or Amsterdam Cupid. The whole party were at length assembled, the dinner announced, and the company withdrew to enjoy the very best artiste's best efforts, put forth on an occasion so replete with honour and distinction to his employé. Lord Baskerville contrived to place himself next to the Comtesse Leinsengen, whose hand, in her qualité d'ambassadrice, the master of the feast had shewn his skill in precedence by soliciting, as he led the way to the dining-room; a circumstance, by the way, fortunate for him on his début, for although Lord Baskerville's arm would have been far more agreeable, yet the Comtesse would never have pardoned such a neglect of her grade in favour of her dear friend Lady Tilney.