(Greek passage)           AlCÆUS.
 
          Bacchis! ''Tis vain to brood on care,
          Since grief no remedy supplies;
          Be ours the sparkling bowl to share,
          And drown our sorrows as they rise.
Mr. Falconer saw no more of Miss Gryll till the party assembled in the drawing-rooms. She necessarily took the arm of Lord Curryfin for dinner, and it fell to the lot of Mr. Falconer to offer his to Miss Niphet, so that they sat at remote ends of the table, each wishing himself in the other's place; but Lord Curryfin paid all possible attention to his fair neighbour. Mr. Falconer could see that Miss Gryll's conversation with Lord Curryfin was very animated¹ and joyous²: too merry, perhaps, for love: but cordial to a degree that alarmed him. It was, however, clear by the general mirth at the head of the table, that nothing very confidential³ or sentimental⁴ was passing. Still, a young lady who had placed the destiny of her life on a point of brief suspense⁵ ought not to be so merry as Miss Gryll evidently was. He said little to Miss Niphet; and she, with her habit of originating nothing, sat in her normal state of statue-like placidity⁶, listening to the conversation near her. She was on the left hand of Mr. Gryll. Miss Ilex was on his right, and on her right was the Reverend Doctor Opimian. These three kept up an animated dialogue. Mr. MacBorrowdale was in the middle of the table, and amused his two immediate⁷ fair neighbours with remarks appertaining to the matter immediately before them, the preparation and arrangement of a good dinner: remarks that would have done honour to Francatelli.
 
After a while, Mr. Falconer bethought him that he would try to draw out Miss Niphet.'s opinion on the subject nearest his heart. He said to her: 'They are very merry at the head of the table.'
 
Miss Niphet.. I suppose Lord Curryfin is in the vein⁸ for amusing his company, and he generally succeeds in his social purposes.
 
Mr. Falconer. You lay stress on social, as if you thought him not successful in all his purposes.
 
Miss Niphet. Not in all his inventions, for example. But in the promotion⁹ of social enjoyment¹⁰ he has few equals. Of course, it must be in congenial society. There is a power of being pleased, as well as a power of pleasing. With Miss Gryll and Lord Curryfin, both meet in both. ............