"Dear-ah-me! Is she really! Do you know I never saw a duchess
before." And Miss Piper drew herself up and craned her neck, as if
resolved to "behave herself properly," as she had been taught to
do at boarding-school thirty years before, in the presence of "her
grace." By-and-by she said to Miss Phoebe, with a sudden jerk out
of position,--"Look, look! that's our Mr. Cholmley, the magistrate"
(he was the great man of Coreham), "and that's Mrs. Cholmley in red
satin, and Mr. George and Mr. Harry from Oxford, I do declare; and
Miss Cholmley, and pretty Miss Sophy. I should like to go and speak
to them, but then it's so formidable crossing a room without a
gentleman. And there is Coxe the butcher and his wife! Why all
Coreham seems to be here! And how Mrs. Coxe can afford such a gown I
can't make out for one, for I know Coxe had some difficulty in paying
for the last sheep he bought of my brother."
Just at this moment the band, consisting of two violins, a harp, and
an occasional clarionet, having finished their tuning, and brought
themselves as nearly into accord as was possible, struck up a brisk
country-dance, and partners quickly took their places. Mrs. Gibson
was secretly a little annoyed at Cynthia's being one of those
to stand up in this early dance, the performers in which were
principally the punctual plebeians of Hollingford, who, when a ball
was fixed to begin at eight, had no notion of being later, and so
losing part of the amusement for which they had paid their money. She
imparted some of her feelings to Molly, sitting by her, longing to
dance, and beating time to the spirited music with one of her pretty
little feet.
"Your dear papa is always so very punctual! To-night it seems almost
a pity, for we really are here before there is any one come that we
know."
"Oh! I see so many people here that I know. There are Mr. and Mrs.
Smeaton, and that nice good-tempered daughter."
"Oh! booksellers and butchers if you will."
"Papa has found a great many friends to talk to."
"Patients, my dear--hardly friends. There are some nice-looking
people here," catching her eye on the Cholmleys; "but I daresay they
have driven over from the neighbourhood of Ashcombe or Coreham, and
have hardly calculated how soon they would get here. I wonder when
the Towers' party will come. Ah! there's Mr. Ashton, and Mr. Preston.
Come, the room is beginning to fill."
So it was, for this was to be a very good ball, people said; and a
large party from the Towers was coming, and a duchess in diamonds
among the number. Every great house in the district was expected to
be full of guests on these occasions; but at this early hour, the
townspeople had the floor almost entirely to themselves; the county
magnates came dropping in later; and chiefest among them all was the
lord-lieutenant from the Towers. But to-night they were unusually
late, and the aristocratic ozone being absent from the atmosphere,
there was a flatness about the dancing of all those who considered
themselves above the plebeian ranks of the tradespeople. They,
however, enjoyed themselves thoroughly, and sprang and bounded
till their eyes sparkled and their cheeks glowed with exercise and
excitement. Some of the more prudent parents, mindful of the next
day's duties, began to consider at what hour they ought to go home;
but with all there was an expressed or unexpressed curiosity to
see the duchess and her diamonds; for the Menteith diamonds were
famous in higher circles than that now assembled; and their fame
had trickled down to it through the medium of ladies'-maids and
housekeepers. Mr. Gibson had had to leave the ball-room for a time,
as he had anticipated, but he was to return to his wife as soon as
his duties were accomplished; and, in his absence, Mrs. Gibson kept
herself a little aloof from the Miss Brownings and those of her
acquaintance who would willingly have entered into conversation with
her, with the view of attaching herself to the skirts of the Towers'
party, when they should make their appearance. If Cynthia would not
be so very ready in engaging herself to every possible partner who
asked her to dance, there were sure to be young men staying at the
Towers who would be on the look-out for pretty girls: and who could
tell to what a dance might lead? Molly, too, though not so good a
dancer as Cynthia, and, from her timidity, less graceful and easy,
was becoming engaged pretty deeply; and, it must be confessed,
she was longing to dance every dance, no matter with whom. Even
she might not be available for the more aristocratic partners Mrs.
Gibson anticipated. She was feeling very much annoyed with the whole
proceedings of the evening when she was aware of some one standing by
her; and, turning a little to one side, she saw Mr. Preston keeping
guard, as it were, over the seats which Molly and Cynthia had just
quitted. He was looking so black that, if their eyes had not met,
Mrs. Gibson would have preferred not speaking to him; as it was, she
thought it unavoidable.