I'll come, provided there is
no scandal and high play," he said, laughing.
As the hour for the _Matinee_ approached, Helen's drawing-rooms
presented a _coup d'oeil_ of splendor and elegance. Daylight was
carefully excluded; and alabaster lamps threw a soft, moon-lit
radiance, through flowers and garlands, over the scene. The costly
mirrors, the magnificent furniture, of the time of _Louis le Grande_,
the lofty, frescoed ceiling, the exquisite statuary, and rare
paintings, were all in fine keeping with each other, and gave, what an
artist would call, tone and harmony to the scene. Attired in white
crape and pearls, Helen had never looked more lovely; and of all who
crowded with compliments around her, there was not one to rival her.
Group after group of the _beau monde_ made their way to the head of the
room, where she, with her high-bred worldly air, received them with a
smile and pleasant passing words.
"Your _Matinee_ is the most brilliant of the season, Mrs. Jerrold,"
said a fashionable old lady, with a dowager air--such a one as we meet
with constantly in society, who, tangled up in laces, false hair, and a
modish style of dress, look like old faries at a christening, and who
impress the young and inexperienced by their affected zest that the
fleeting pleasures of life are immortal. "Your _matinee_ is really
splendid! Such a fashionable company--so much beauty--really, it
reminds me of old times. But, my dear creature, did you know there is
the greatest sensation in town now about religion?"
"How?" asked Helen, smiling.
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