"For my part," said Lord Holmesford, "I only embark in the enterprise to oblige my friend Greenwood; and therefore I am agreeable to any thing that he proposes." Matters being thus amicably arranged, the company passed the remainder of the evening in the conviviality of the table. At eleven o'clock the guests all retired, with the exception of the Marquis of Holmesford. "Now, friend Greenwood," said this nobleman, "you will keep your engagement with me?" "Yes, my lord: I am prepared to accompany you." "Let us depart at once, then," added the Marquis, rising from his chair: "my carriage has been waiting some time; and I long to introduce you to the voluptuous mysteries of Holmesford House." CHAPTER CLXXII. THE MYSTERIES OF HOLMESFORD HOUSE. The Marquis and Mr. Greenwood alighted at the door of Holmesford House—one of the most splendid palaces of the aristocracy at the West End. The Marquis conducted his visitor into a large ante-room at the right hand of the spacious hall. The table in the middle of the apartment was covered with the most luxurious fruits, nosegays of flowers, preserves, sweetmeats, and delicious wines. From this room three doors afforded communication elsewhere. One opened into the hall, and had afforded them ingress: the other, on the opposite side, belonged to a corridor, with which were connected the baths; and the third, at the bottom, communicated with a vast saloon, of which we shall have more to say very shortly. [Illustration] The Marquis said to the servant who conducted him and Mr. Greenwood to the ante-room, "You may retire; and let _them_ ring the bell when all is ready." The domestic withdrew. The Marquis motioned Greenwood to seat himself at the table; and, filling two coloured glasses with real Johannisberg, he said, "We must endeavour to while away half an hour; and then I can promise you a pleasing entertainment." The nobleman and the member of Parliament quaffed the delicious wine, and indulged in discourse upon the most voluptuous subjects. "For my part," said the Marquis, "I study how to enjoy life. I possess an immense fortune, and do not scruple to spend it upon all the pleasures I can fancy, or which suggest themselves to me. I am not such an idiot as to imagine that I possess the vigour or natural warmth which characterised my youth; and therefore I have become an Epicurean in my recreations. I invent and devise the means of inflaming my passions; and then—_then_ I am young once more. You will presently behold something truly oriental in the refinements on voluptuousness which I have conceived to produce an artificial effect on the temperament when nature is languid and weak. "Your lordship is right to fan the flame that burns dimly," observed Greenwood, who, unprincipled as he was, could not, however, avoid a feeling of disgust when he heard that old voluptuary, with one foot in the grave, thus shamelessly express himself.