And, now that I recollect myself, did you run a horse?'
'Why, no; the fault was, I believe, that he would not run; but
Sanspareil is as great a hero as ever. He has only been conquered by the
elements.'
The dinner at the Duke of St. James's was this day more splendid even
than the preceding. He was determined to show that the disappointment
had produced no effect upon the temper of so imperial a personage
as himself, and he invited several of the leading gentry to join his
coterie. The Dacres were among the solicited; but they were, during the
races, the guests of Mrs. Dallington Vere, whose seat was only a mile
off, and therefore were unobtainable.
Blazed the plate, sparkled the wine, and the aromatic venison sent forth
its odourous incense to the skies. The favourite cook had done wonders,
though a Sanspareil pate, on which he had been meditating for a week,
was obliged to be suppressed, and was sent up as a tourte a la Bourbon,
in compliment to his Royal Highness. It was a delightful party: all the
stiffness of metropolitan society disappeared. All talked, and laughed,
and ate, and drank; and the Protocolis and the French princes, who were
most active members of a banquet, ceased sometimes, from want of breath,
to moralize on the English character.
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