Captain and Mrs. Montresor, and the Rev. Dr.
Blackmore. Under any circumstances, either in the country or in town,
Mr. Somerset and his young bride did not propose opening their gates
to more general acquaintances until Miss Beaufort and the count were
married, and both bridal parties had been presented at court in the
spring. To this little select group of friends who were to assemble
round Mr. Somerset's table on the appointed day, Thaddeus informed
him, with frank pleasure, that he had taken the liberty of adding Dr.
Cavendish and Mr. Hopetown of Dantzic.
Lady Albina received the two strangers with graceful hospitality. The
affianced Mary, with an equally blushing grace, presented her hand to
the generous protector of Saladin, accompanying the action with a
modest acknowledgment of her interest in an animal so deservedly dear
to the Count Sobieski. He had turned to meet Lord Berrington and the
ever lively Sophia Egerton (now Mrs. Montresor), who both advanced to
him at the same instant, to express their gratulations not only at
seeing him again, but in a situation of happy promise, so consonant
to his avowed rank and personal early fame.
Thaddeus replied to their felicitations with a smiling dignity in
that ingenuous manner peculiarly his own. He was not a little
surprised when Dr. Blackmore soon after recognized him to be the
noble foreigner whose appearance had so much excited his attention,
about a twelvemonth ago, at the Hummuins, in Covent Garden.
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