Miss Montressor smiled upon him again, and Mr. Van Buren immediately began to calculate how he could dispose of the thirty-fourth Mrs. Van Buren, who was at that moment on his hands, and substitute the new favourite for her. 'Now,' said Mr. Duval, bustling about, 'let us get to table as soon as possible. Those who have not been introduced to Miss Montressor already had better come to me, and I will perform the ceremony. My dear Clara, I think you already know Mr. Willy Webster of the _Democrat_' he added, pushing forward a dirty little man with soiled shirt, and clothes shining with grease--'not clean, perhaps, but decidedly clever,' said Bryan, dropping his voice; 'and you must shake hands with him.' Mr. Looby of the _Scarifier_ and Mr. O'Gog of the _Growl_, came forward and made their obeisance; Henry P. Remington and Samuel D. Silliman, two young men about town, who had more money than brains, and less manners than either; a gray-headed man, with a thin keen face, who seemed to know everything and every one, and who was universally addressed as Uncle William, completed the party. 'Now are we all here?' said Bryan Duval, who had seated Miss Montressor between himself and Mr. Van Buren, and who was compelled to stand up to look round the table, so large and luxurious was the basket of flowers in the centre--'are we all here?' 'No,' said Willy Webster from the other side of the table. 'Here, next me, is a chair for our good friend Banquo.' 'Who is our good friend Banquo on this occasion? Let me see,' said Bryan Duval. 'Looby, O'Gog--'pon my word, I can't recollect.' 'I thought you told me you had sent round to the _Globe_ office to tell Brighthurst to come up?' said Van Buren. 'To be sure,' cried Bryan. 'Brighthurst is Banquo. Why on earth is he not here?' 'I sincerely hope he will come,' said Willy Webster. 'And I--and I!' cried several others. 'Mr. Brighthurst seems to be a general favourite,' said Miss Montressor to her neighbour--'what are his particular attractions?' 'I am sure I don't know,' said Mr. Van Buren, a little piqued; 'he is a good sort of fellow, I believe.' 'Brighthurst, my dear,' said Duval, 'is one of the cleverest men on the press of this or any other country. He has written everything in his time--five-act plays, political pamphlets, orthodox sermons, and hymns which would draw tears from a hard-shell Baptist--then he's very good-looking and capital talk. I shall be sincerely disappointed if he doesn't come soon. I am sure you and he would get on well together.' 'Do you think he would be horrified at seeing me eating these enormous oysters?' said Miss Montressor, with a little playfulness, turning to her other neighbour. 'I don't know whether _he_ would, but I am not,' said Mr. Van Buren. 'Everything you do is done with a grace possessed by no other woman in the world.' 'O, Mr. Van Buren,' said the actress with an upward glance, 'that compliment is even more difficult to swallow than the large oysters.'