These were not certainly her first defeats, by the clever way of hiding her chagrin:--it is gone whilst she adjusts the flower in her bosom,--or opens and shuts her fan twice.--How can _she_ be mortified by trifles,--when the _Lord_ of _her heart_,--the sweet, simpering, fair-faced, Lord Baily keeps his eyes incessantly fixed on her, like centinels on guard?--They cannot speak, _indeed they cannot_, or I should expect them to call out every half hour, "All is well." I admire Lord and Lady Allen. I say, I admire them: their manners are full of easy freedom, pleasing vivacity.--I cannot admire all the world; I wish I could.--Mr. and Mrs. Winter happen not to suit my taste;--they are a kind of people who look down on every one of middle fortune;--seem to despise ancestry,--yet are always fond of mixing with the great.--Their rise was too sudden;--they jump'd into life all at once.--Such quick transitions require great equality of mind;--the blaze of splendor was too much for their _weak_ eyes;--the _flare_ of surprise is still visible. It was some time before the conversation became general.--First, and ever to have precedence,--the weather;--next, roads;--then houses,--plantations,--fashions,--dress,--equipage;--and last of all, politics in a thread-bare coat. About ten minutes before dinner, Lord Darcey joined us, dress'd most magnificently in a suit of olive velvet, embroider'd with gold;--his hair without powder, which became him infinitely.--He certainly appear'd to great advantage:--how could it be otherwise, when in company with that tawdry, gilded piece of clay?--And to sit by him, of all things!--One would really think it had been designed:--_some_ exulted, _some_ look'd mortified at the contrast.--Poor Miss Winter's seat began to grow very uneasy;--she tried every corner, yet could not vary the light in which she saw the _two opposites_.--Why did she frown on _me?_--why cast such contemptuous glances every time I turn'd my eye towards her?--Did _I_ recommend the daubed coxcomb;--or represent that her future joys depended on title?--No! it was vanity, the love of grandeur,--that could make her give up fine sense, fine accomplishments, a princely address, and all the noble requisites:--yes, my Lady, such a one, Lord Darcey tells me, she has refused.--Refused, for what? For folly, a total ignorance in the polite arts, and a meaness of manners not to be express'd: yet, I dare say, she thinks, the sweet sounds of _my Lady_, and _your Ladyship_ is _cheaply_ purchased by such a sacrifice. When we moved to go into the dining-parlour, Miss Winter bow'd for me to follow Lady Allen and her mother; which after I had declined, Lady Powis took me by the hand, and said, smiling, No, Madam, Miss Warley is one of us.--If _so_, my Lady--and she swam out of the room with an air I shall never forget.