MASQUERADING.
Mrs. Hazleton resolved to give a party which should eclipse in splendor
all those to which the gay season had given rise, and Mr. Hazleton,
willing to gratify her, had placed both his purse and time at her
command. For once every thing went favorably—the presiding Fates were
all on the side of Mrs. Hazleton. Taste and elegance marked the
upholsterer’s high finish—the rooms were flooded with that soft, mellow
light which throws so becoming a shade o’er the cheek of beauty—music
was to lend its charms—and the luxuries of every clime were gathered on
the refreshment tables, mingled with all those tasteful little devices
which the skill of the confectioner can compound. So far well, and Mrs.
Hazleton, bowing to herself as she took a last survey in her mirror,
pronounced the image superb!
Mr. Wallace had begged permission to bring a friend—certainly, any
friend of his would be most welcome. The rooms were already rapidly
filling, when trembling and blushing Julia saw Mr. Wallace approaching,
and with him—_Cousin Frank_! And how handsome the fellow looked, too,
and what a joyous, happy glance met hers!
“Allow me to present my friend, Mr. Francis—” the rest was somewhat
unintelligible—and Mrs. Hazleton most gracefully bent to the modest
salute of the stranger, and then turned to introduce her daughter also.
It certainly was praiseworthy in Julia not to know cousin Frank, as her
mother had so positively forbidden; so she merely bowed, and that, too,
in the stiffest manner, which bow was as stiffly returned, and then
immediately turning from her, Mr. Francis began an animated conversation
with her mother. It is true that, in the course of the evening, he very
formally invited Miss Julia to dance, who, with a toss of her pretty
head, gave him her hand to lead her off—and that no sooner were they
free from the vicinity of Mrs. Hazleton, than they both laughed right
merrily, and said a great many things which must have been interesting
to themselves, to judge from their looks; nay, more than this, instead
of joining the dancers as they had proposed, they strolled off into the
conservatory!
Mrs. Hazleton seemed blessed this evening with wonderful ubiquity of
vision. She could not only look to the wants of her numerous guests, and
see that each one was placed in his or her peculiar sphere for
display—that the feet of the merry dancers stayed not for music—that
the waiters were all in the quiet performance of their duties; but also
that the actors in her private play of “_Manœuvering_” should not fail
in the favorite parts she had allotted them. Thus when she suddenly came
upon Herman Wallace and Alice evidently much engrossed by some
interesting topic, and discovered the fact that the latter had never
looked so well as on this evening, how adroitly she contrived to
separate them by despatching Alice upon some trifling commission to
another part of the room, and then, with a bland smile, requesting
Wallace to go in search of her dear Julia! In a few moments, however,
Julia appeared, leaning on the arm of Frank, who, by his graceful
compliments, soon restored her good humor; nay, so well did he top his
part in a play of his own, that, although Mrs. Hazleton’s eyes were
almost blasted by seeing Wallace leading that odious Alice Churchill to
the dance, while Julia herself was disengaged, she yet had not courage
to break away from his flattering speeches.
“How very much your sister resembles you!” said Frank, recovering from a
sudden fit of absence, during which his eyes had been watching the
movements of Julia.
“My sister!” cried Mrs. Hazleton, blushing and laughing, “my
_sister_!—my daughter you mean.”
“Daughter! good heavens!” and here Cousin Frank gave a tragedy
start—“you don’t mean to say that lady is your _daughter_! O, no, it
cannot be—the resemblance is certainly striking—the same expressive
eyes, the same noble brow, the full red lip, and luxuriant hair the
same—but your daughter—it cannot be!”
Mrs. Hazleton, however, was obliged to own the “soft impeachment,” while
she mentally wished she had not visited Saratoga, or that she had
allowed some other of the sex to avenge the sisterhood on Mrs. Hazleton,
for here indeed was a prize which might else have been hers!