“By my soul!” cried Goldsmith, “she looks as if she would give double that sum to be safe at home in bed.” The cheers of the crowd increased as the chair containing Mrs. Baddeley, the actress, was borne along, the lady smiling in a half-hearted way through her paint. On each side of the chair, but some short distance in front, were four link-boys in various liveries, shining with gold and silver lace. In place of footmen, however, there walked two rows of gentlemen on each side of the chair. They were all splendidly dressed, and they carried their swords drawn. At the head of the escort on one side was the well known young Lord Conway, and at the other side Mr. Hanger, equally well known as a leader of fashion. Lord Stanley was immediately behind his friend Conway, and almost every other member of the lady's escort was a young nobleman or the heir to a peerage. The lines extended to a second chair, in which Mrs. Abington was seated, smiling----“Very much more naturally than Mrs. Baddeley,” Burke remarked. “Oh, yes,” cried Goldsmith, “she was always the better actress. I am fortunate in having her in my new comedy.” “The Duchesses have become jealous of the sway of Mrs. Abington,” said Garrick, alluding to the fact that the fashions in dress had been for several years controlled by that lovely and accomplished actress. “And young Lord Conway and his friends have become tired of the sway of the Duchesses,” said Burke. “My Lord Stanley looked as if he were pretty nigh weary of his Duchess's sway,” said Garrick. “I wonder if he fancies that his joining that band will emancipate him.” “If so he is in error,” said Burke. “The Duchess of Argyll will never let him out of her clutches till he is safely married to the Lady Betty.” “Till then, do you say?” said Goldsmith. “Faith, sir, if he fancies he will escape from her clutches by marrying her daughter he must have had a very limited experience of life. Still, I think the lovely young lady is most to be pitied. You heard the cold way he talked of her picture to Reynolds.” The engagement of Lord Stanley, the heir to the earldom of Derby, to Lady Betty Hamilton, though not formally announced, was understood to be a _fait accompli_; but there were rumours that the young man had of late been making an effort to release himself--that it was only with difficulty the Duchess managed to secure his attendance in public upon her daughter, whose portrait was being painted by Reynolds. The picturesque procession went slowly along amid the cheers of the crowds, and certainly not without many expressions of familiarity and friendliness toward the two ladies whose beauty of countenance and of dress was made apparent by the flambeaux of the link-boys, which also gleamed upon the thin blades of the ladies' escort. The actresses were plainly more popular than the committee of the Pantheon. It was only when the crowds were closing in on the end of the procession that a voice cried--