shining eyes and parted lips stood sharply out as it was whirled

away by the dance, the light of the lusters gleaming on the white

skin. Mme du Joncquoy declared that the present proceedings were

senseless. It was madness to crowd five hundred people into a room

which would scarcely contain two hundred. In fact, why not sign the

wedding contract on the Place du Carrousel? This was the outcome of

the new code of manners, said Mme Chantereau. In old times these

solemnities took place in the bosom of the family, but today one