Two things which are necessary to a perfect dinner are noiseless
attendants, and a precision in serving the various dishes of each
course, so that they may all be placed upon the table at the same
moment. A deficiency in these respects produces that bustle and delay
which distract many an agreeable conversation and spoil many a pleasant
dish. These two excellent characteristics were never wanting at the
dinners of Sidonia. At no house was there less parade. The appearance
of the table changed as if by the waving of a wand, and silently as a
dream. And at this moment, the dessert being arranged, fruits and their
beautiful companions, flowers, reposed in alabaster baskets raised on
silver stands of filigree work.
There was half an hour of merry talk, graceful and gay: a good story,
a _bon-mot_ fresh from the mint, some raillery like summer lightning,
vivid but not scorching.
'And now,' said Edith, as the ladies rose to return to the library,
'and now we leave you to Maynooth.'
'By-the-bye, what do they say to it in your House, Lord Marney?'
inquired Henry Sydney, filling his glass.
'It will go down,' said Lord Marney. 'A strong dose for some, but they
are used to potent potions.'
'The bishops, they say, have not made up their minds.
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