Vernon to give his party on a night when he himself
would be unable to superintend the commissariat owing
to his services being required for my Lady Bunbutter's
rout close at hand. However, he had left the strictest
injunctions with John the senior waiter to carry off
at once all empty bottles in order to the protection
of the Curtain Wells watch, which was wont to suffer
considerably in their persons on such an hilarious
occasion as a party in the old ballroom of Daish's
Rooms.
The host stood with his back to the fire complacently
surveying the preparations. Vernon's extraction was
somewhat ambiguous, and his father may or may not
have been the fine gentleman that his mother swore he
was. So, as he stood regarding the well-covered table
and the tall armchair at the head of it where he would
presently take his seat, a distinct feeling of elation seized
him at the prospect of being in a position to pass the
decanter round a circle of such undeniable breeding.
