been shaved and polished until it approached in glistening amiability
the ivory head on a walking-stick; but there was an uncertainty in its
ripples of merriment impressive of the belief that if once a genuine ha!
ha! was ventured, the galvanized look of joy would instantly vanish. It
was at a very uncertain gait he sidled into my office. He did not seem
at all sure I would know him, or, in fact, _very_ intimately acquainted
with himself. The mingled gruffness and cordiality of his greeting
suggested a dancing-master suffering with corns. It was a minute or two
before his wonted calmness returned; but finally, with a piteous look of
blended tenderness and brutal exultation, he handed me a card. It
contained the handsomely engraved compliments of Miss Florence
Gripstone, and a hope for the pleasure of my company at a soirée. This
was the magic wand that turned penury to wealth and made the sterile
rock blossom with gorgeous flowers. The beast had a daughter, and with
all the ardor of a distorted nature he loved her.

If, a week before, Gripstone's soirée had been hinted, I think I would
have laughed; but if the assertion had been ventured that it would be
given in a stately house, with spacious grounds, on a fashionable
street, and with "Gripstone" on the door-plate, I know I would have
shouted outright. Yet the house was stately, and the entertainment
superb. Carpets glowing with the gorgeous coloring of the Orient,
pictures that had caught their delicate tinge in sacred Rome, furniture
carved from the solid heart of rose-wood, plate vying in richness with
the state service of a scion of nobility, abounded. Fluttering in the
light of many tinted lamps, rare flowers breathed daintiest odors; and
floating through the high arches, soft music whispered plaintive
ecstasy. In the center of a throng of recently arrived guests, and
positively cropping with broadcloth and Marseilles, beamed the host.
Close at his side, radiant in her beauty, faultless in its adornment,