The first artists had arranged
the picture and the costumes; the first artists had made the trinkets
and the toys. And what a very agreeable fair, where all might suit their
fancy without the permission of that sulky tyrant, a purse! All were in
excellent humour, and no false shame prevented them from plundering
the stalls. The noble proprietors set the example. Annesley offered a
bouquet of precious stones to Charlotte Bloomerly, and it was accepted,
and the Duke of St. James showered a sack of whimsical breloques among a
scrambling crowd of laughing beauties. Among them was Miss Dacre. He had
not observed her. Their eyes met, and she smiled. It seemed that he had
never felt happiness before.
Ere the humours of the fair could be exhausted they were summoned to the
margin of the river, where four painted and gilded galleys, which
might have sailed down the Cydmus, and each owning its peculiar chief,
prepared to struggle for pre-eminence in speed. All betted; and the
Duke, encouraged by the smile, hastened to Miss Dacre to try to win back
some of his Doncaster losses, but Arundel Dacre had her arm in his,
and she was evidently delighted with his discourse.
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