No sooner had he entered the presence-room, than he hastily sought
Lord Glenvarloch, who had withdrawn into the embrasure of one of the
windows, from the general gaze of men who seemed disposed only to
afford him the notice which arises from surprise and curiosity, and,
taking him by the arm, without speaking, led him out of the presence-
chamber into the first ante-room. Here they found the worthy
goldsmith, who approached them with looks of curiosity, which were
checked by the old lord, who said hastily, "All is well.--Is your
barge in waiting?" Heriot answered in the affirmative. "Then," said
Lord Huntinglen, "you shall give me a cast in it, as the watermen say;
and I, in requital, will give you both your dinner; for we must have
some conversation together."
They both followed the earl without speaking, and were in the second
ante-room when the important annunciation of the ushers, and the hasty
murmur with which all made ample way as the company repeated to each
other,--"The Duke--the Duke!" made them aware of the approach of the
omnipotent favourite.
He entered, that unhappy minion of Court favour, sumptuously dressed
in the picturesque attire which will live for ever on the canvas of
Vandyke, and which marks so well the proud age, when aristocracy,
though undermined and nodding to its fall, still, by external show and
profuse expense, endeavoured to assert its paramount superiority over
the inferior orders.
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