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BY ORDER OF THE CZAR. 233

landlady, a plump, cheerful widow of thirty, did nothing but admire them as they came or went ; and she made a point of going into their rooms herself to see that the breakfast was all that they could desire, and it was, from the long brown roll of Paris bread to the spring chicken, half buried in cresses and potato chips.

Philip had donned a new grey tweed suit, with a white silk neckerchief and brown walking shoes, and was all the handsomer in the eyes of the landlady, and possibly in Dolly's, that he was unusually pale, his eyes more than usually bright, and his black hair more than usually in- clined to straggle over his forehead. If he had had hazel eyes, he might perhaps have been a more stable and reliable lover; but his eyes were blue, as has been pre- viously remarked a clear blue, which made his face remarkable without the observer at first quite knowing why. His complexion was naturally somewhat sallow ; his eyebrows strong and dark, his hair raven; he was English in his manners and speech ; but in person more like an Italian than an Englishman.

The two or three days of their stay in Paris was a delightful time. Walter Milbanke was the most thoughtful of travelling hosts. He managed everything.. No one else found it necessary to give a thought to anything except enjoyment. Walter anticipated the wants of his party with the consideration of an affectionate friend and the efficiency of the best of courtiers. And what a genial fellow he looked and was ! Always in a good temper ; never argumentative ; that is, not in earnest ; if he opposed anything it was in a spirit of pleasant badinage. He was mostly dressed in a suit of navy blue serge, his coat nattily faced with silk ; and he pinned his dark red scarf with a diamond horseshoe. His thoroughly English complexion warmed up under the work of piloting and providing for his party, and gave him the appearance of robust health,