friends, his penetrating and acute glances rested upon Rosilia, whose modest eye, unable to encounter so searching a scrutiny, sank abashed to the ground.
His admiration was ardent, but the visible pain it gave the object might have suggested the necessity of constraining it: having suffered a few minutes to elapse, he drew near, and addressed her in tones of the most insinuating softness.
After the circle was complete, the dinner being announced, he led her to the table, and had the happiness of securing a seat by her side.
Between the hours of nine and ten the carriages began to roll down the long and brilliantly illuminated avenue. The company alighting, passed beneath a canopy, and from thence into the hall, where they were conducted between double rows of pillars of the Corinthian order, encircled with variegated lamps, and wreaths of evergreens interspersed with the scarlet clusters of the barberry and the white blossom of the laurustinus and arbutus. From the hall they passed into a saloon of an octagon shape, the compartments of which exhibited to the gratified sight transparencies, designed and executed by eminent artists. At the entrance of the adjoining room the engaging lady Valpée received her guests. The decorations of
