Exceedingly indulgent to her servants, Lady friends; and he had invited the Tankards, to whom he owed a return, and several others of our acquaintance—namely, Mrs. Tripp and the charming Clotilde; Mrs. Sicklemore and the fair Flora; Mr. and Mrs. Hartley, Harry Netterville, Pledger Dapp, and Larkins—to a soirée dansante.
Of course, the servants of the house were included, and they mustered very strong—footman, coachman, page, housekeeper, lady's-maid, housemaids, and kitchen maid. Nor must we omit to mention Rose, and Mrs. Calverley's lady's-maid, Laura, who had some pretension to good looks.
Most important, however, of all was the French cook, Monsieur Zephyrus, who next to Mr. Higgins himself, was the principal person in the establishment.
A very smart young man was Zephyrus, when not compelled by the duties of his vocation to disguise himself in a white apron, white veste, and white bonnet-de-nuit.
He now wore an evening dress, made by a fashionable tailor in the Boulevard Italien, the peculiar cut of which proclaimed its French origin; and, as he had a light figure, he looked very well in it.
Zephyrus was not bad-looking, and had a dark complexion, black eyes, and large black whiskers, of which he was not a little vain. When in full dress, as on the present occasion, he wore a lorgnon stuck in his right eye.
On the previous day he had paid a visit to his friend Sigebert Smart, whom he had known in Paris, and invited him and Madame Smart to the party. Both accepted the invitation with delight.
In addition to a piano, brought from upstairs, and on which Mrs. Tripp had kindly consented to perform, a violin, violoncello, and cornet had been provided by Mr. Higgins. Nothing, indeed, was neglected.
The large housekeeper's room, in which dancing was to take place, was brilliantly lighted up and decorated; and supper, prepared by Monsieur Zephyrus himself, was to be served in the salle à manger. Nothing was seen of the kitchen.
Not till ten o'clock, when dinner and all other matters upstairs had been disposed of, did the company begin to assemble.