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Rh the apparent smile, at any rate came to the feast, and talked loud and drank freely. Enough was done to pass the meeting off as one marked by extreme cordiality and unbounded hilarity,—common phrases, which imply so little, and are used so much.

Among the guests was one, a young and handsome man, of that appearance which his own sex would pronounce gentlemanlike, and the other, interesting. He was dressed in deep mourning, and looked pale and sad, as if the sense of a recent loss was still strong within him; while his fair though somewhat wan complexion was made more striking by the contrast with the bright profusion of hair that parted on his brow, and, hanging in long curls down his shoulders, might have vied with those of any native chieftain who held his freedom and the golden length of his locks synonymous. He was seated next an elderly officer, to whom he paid a degree of attention which was refused to the gayer sallies of a younger companion on the other side. Still it was obvious that his attention was the result of that good feeling which is the best politeness; for when the old man became at last engaged in a warm discussion with his neighbour, touching the merits and demerits of chain armour, Robert Evelyn (for it was