closed upon his cane as upon a sword. There is mockery in the
inconstant eyes. And the lips, so used to close upon the wine-cup, in
laughter so often parted, they do not seem immobile, even now. Sad
that one so prodigally endowed as he was, with the three essentials of
a dandy--physical distinction, a sense of beauty and wealth or, if you
prefer the term, credit--should not have done greater things. Much of
his costume was merely showy or eccentric, without the rotund unity of
the perfect fop's. It had been well had he lacked that dash and
spontaneous gallantry that make him cut, it may be, a more attractive
figure than Beau Brummell. The youth of St. James's gave him a
wonderful welcome. The flight of Mr. Brummell had left them as sheep
without a shepherd. They had even cried out against the inscrutable
decrees of fashion and curtailed the height of their stocks. And (lo!)
here, ambling down the Mall with tasselled cane, laughing in the
window at White's or in Fop's Alley posturing, here, with the devil in
his eyes and all the graces at his elbow, was D'Orsay, the prince
paramount who should dominate London and should guard life from
monotony by the daring of his whims. He accepted so many engagements
that he often dressed very quickly both in the morning and at
nightfall. His brilliant genius would sometimes enable him to appear
faultless, but at other times not even his fine figure could quite
dispel the shadow of a toilet too hastily conceived. Before long he
took that fatal step, his marriage with Lady Harriet Gardiner. The
marriage, as we all know, was not a happy one, though the wedding was
very pretty. It ruined the life of Lady Harriet and of her mother, the
Blessington. It won the poor Count further still further from his art
and sent him spinning here, there, and everywhere. He was continually
at Cleveden, or Belvoir, or Welbeck, laughing gaily as he brought down
our English partridges, or at Crockford's, smiling as he swept up our
English guineas from the board. Holker declares that, excepting Mr.