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If, a week before, Gripstones soire had been hinted, I think I wouldhave laughed; but if the assertion had been ventured that it would begiven in a stately house, with spacious grounds, on a fashionablestreet, and with Gripstone on the doorplate, I know I would haveshouted outright. Yet the house was stately, and the entertainmentsuperb. Carpets glowing with the gorgeous coloring of the Orient, pictures that had caught their delicate tinge in sacred Rome, furniturecarved from the solid heart of rosewood, plate vying in richness withthe state service of a scion of nobility, abounded. Fluttering in thelight of many tinted lamps, rare flowers breathed daintiest odors; andfloating through the high arches, soft music whispered plaintiveecstasy. In the center of a throng of recently arrived guests, andpositively cropping with broadcloth and Marseilles, beamed the host. Close at his side, radiant in her beauty, faultless in its adornment, stood the daughter. In one, a magnificent swallowtail, fleecyshirtfrill, and snowy gloves had stamped their wearer with a look ofhopeless absurdity; in the other, exquisite taste, gentle dignity, andtrue courtesy bore the impress of glorious womanhood. I was positivelybewildered. Could the father of that lovely girl be the wretch the worldhooted at Could the owner of all this grandeur be the Beast I fanciedmy private property

Carriageloads of elegantly attired women crowded each other in thevestibule; dancing beaux congregated in the smokingroom; eminentmerchants, with their wives and daughters, wits of both es, women ofthe most exclusive ton, thronged the spacious salons. Each in theirturn was greeted with a smirk of ecstatic glee. To Gripstone thecourtesy seemed invested with a proprietary interest. A nod wasreceipted with a simper, a grasp of the hand with a scrape, the mostdistant recognition by the most obsequious acknowledgment. Thereappeared to be no doubt in his mind it was all bought and paid for, butit did no harm to be polite for once; and comically polite he was.

I will not say he did not gradually begin to wear the look of a man whohad purchased an elephant; for he did. I found him late in the eveningposted behind a column and peering through the window at the assembledmerrymakers. It was evident he owned the whole party, and that everyringing laugh went with the property; but to him it was a novelinvestment, and perhaps more difficult to manage than any other articlehe possessed. Partly from a dim consciousness that he had wanderedbeyond his depth, and probably from the loneliness consequent to souncongenial a spectacle, a companion had become necessary; and, when Iapproached, his jump of cordiality was as uncouth as it was unexpected. So stunned were my senses by the extraordinary events, that, had hecried out, Come to my arms, my longlost brother or were astrawberrymark actually found, I could not have been surprised. As itwas, his frenzied tugs at the lapel of my coat threatened its immediatedestruction, and my spinal column ached under his demoniac slaps on theback, before I gasped out my congratulations. Wine, excitement, or the society of one who at least had treated himwith common decency, warmed the little geniality that remained in him. With a jerk he thrust me into his study, and, while thrilling musicswept through the echoing halls, and the solid flooring swayed under thefeet of the dancers, the Beast opened his heart. Shrinking, as thoughtwere felony, from the penury of early life, flying from a brief hourof married happiness, in wild triumph he plunged into the dreariness ofthe upward struggle. Maddened with success, spurning all thought ofconcealment, with shocking exactness he entered into every detail of thecontest, every incident in the appalling history. The low cunning andmiserable privation that accumulated the first paltry hundreds, thetrickery that made them thousands, the heartless sacrifice ofselfrespect that doubled and trebled the swelling store, were gloatedover with a grin of delight. Transactions imbued with a depravity thatmade me shudder, were narrated with a chuckle; chicaneries of a depthand maliciousness positively devilish, were touched with a smirk. Forthis he had lied and cheated; for this his wretched body grew leanfor want of food; for this all the world loathed him. In his youthpoverty crushed him; but his little girl, away at school, never knewthe meaning of the word. Widows went portionless, but she did notwant; orphans starved, her platter was always full. He had beenspattered by the coaches of the rich; but now his chariot, and herchariot, would take a drive. They had called him Beast; but now theycalled him gentleman.

The hundreds who drank his wine and trifled with his sweets called himgentleman, and hundreds more were ready to go down on their knees to hisown flesh and blood. Now was the time to enjoy, now the day ofhappiness. Money was a drug; in his abundance, he could never want. Hehad love, grandeur, troops of friends; now he would live a monarch. Flushed with victory, his eyes blazed, his voice rang clear and loud inits exultation, and his lank form swelled with defiance. Springing tohis feet, and clutching up a decanter, he waved it wildly around hishead, and, challenging God or man to mar such peace, shivered it on thefloor.