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110 BY ORDER OF THE CZAR. conceited person of the opposite sex would mistake their free and unconstrained manners, and trespass by suggestion or remark upon what they considered their good nature, and then it would be revealed to him and sundry that Dolly and her sister "stood no nonsense," to use a favorite phrase of Mr. Samuel Swynford, an admirer of both the sisters and especially of Dolly, for whom it was generally known he cherished a more or less secret passion. "They both like a bit of fun," said Sam to a friend, who had heard of a snub Mrs. Milbanke had administered to a certain noble lord, "but they know just how far to go, and any fool who is not equally well informed comes a cropper, I can tell you, if he presumes upon their good nature. It's like a bear transaction against a strong syndicate. I knew a fellow who did a big bear on Nitrates just as the rise began; he did not know how the north wind was blowing any more than did your noble lord when he ventured to discount the high, unblemished and beautifully moral characters of Dolly Norcott and her sister Jenny."

They were daintily dressed, the two merry sisters. Dolly might have been called a harmony in pink; for if her cloak was of dark plush, the lining was of soft pink silk, and her hat was of some indescribably pinky salmon color, in tone and sympathy therewith. Jenny, her sister, was dark, not a brunette, but her hair was a very deep brown, her eyes hazel, her complexion what Disraeli would have called rich, and while there was a strong family likeness to her sister, she was not as pretty as Dolly ; nor had she the freshness of youth, that was Dolly's precious possession both in fact and in appearance. Dolly was twenty-three, Jenny was thirty. Jenny wore a plush cloak of a dead gold color, and, unbuttoning it, disclosed a lovely dress of ruby silk. She wore a plush hat to match her cloak, tall and stately with nodding decorations, such as gentlemen find very awkward at theatrical matinees, and against which