CHAPTER VIII.
_'Fair Women and Brave Men.'_
MR. DACRE received him with affection: his daughter with a cordiality
which he had never yet experienced from her. Though more simply dressed
than when she first met his ardent gaze, her costume again charmed his
practised eye. 'It must be her shape,' thought the young Duke; 'it is
magical!'
The rooms were full of various guests, and some of these were presented
to his Grace, who was, of course, an object of universal notice, but
particularly by those persons who pretended not to be aware of his
entrance. The party assembled at Castle Dacre consisted of some thirty
or forty persons, all of great consideration, but of a different
character from any with whom the Duke of St. James had been acquainted
during his short experience of English society. They were not what are
called fashionable people. We have no princes and no ambassadors, no
duke who is a gourmand, no earl who is a jockey, no manoeuvring mothers,
no flirting daughters, no gambling sons, for your entertainment. There
is no superfine gentleman brought down specially from town to gauge
the refinement of the manners of the party, and to prevent them, by
his constant supervision and occasional sneer, from losing any of the
beneficial results of their last campaign.
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