At this moment our attention was engaged by the entrance of a party of
exquisites and elegantes, dressed in the very extreme of opera costume,
who directed their steps to the regions above us. "I'll bet a hundred,"
said the honourable, "I know that leg," eyeing a divine little foot and
a finely turned ankle that was just then discernible from beneath a rich
pink drapery, as the possessor ascended the gallery of the conservatory,
lounging on the arm of the Irish Earl of C------; " the best leg in
England, and not a bad figure for an ancient," continued Lionise: "that
is the celebrated Mrs. Bertram, alias Bang--everybody ~209~~ knows Bang;
that is, every body in the fashionable world. She must have been a most
delightful creature when she first came out, and has continued longer in
bloom than any of the present houris of the west; but I forgot you were
fresh, and only in training, Heartly--I must introduce you to Bang: you
will never arrive at any eminence among the haut classe unless you can
call these beauties by name." "And who the deuce is Bang?" said I: "not
that elegantly-dressed female whom I see tripping up the gallery stairs
yonder, preceded by several other delightful faces." "The same, my dear
fellow: a fallen star, to be sure, but yet a planet round whose
orbit move certain other little twinkling luminaries whose attractive
glimmerings are very likely to enlighten your obscure sentimentality.
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