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THE EUROPEANS.
[CH.
were all standing round his sister, as if they were expecting her to acquit herself of the exhibition of some peculiar faculty, some brilliant talent. Their attitude seemed to imply that she was a kind of conversational mountebank, attired, intellectually, in gauze and spangles. This attitude gave a certain ironical force to Madame Münster's next words. "Now this is your circle," she said to her uncle. "This is your salon. These are your regular habitués, eh? I am so glad to see you all together."
"Oh," said Mr. Wentworth, "they are always dropping in and out. You must do the same."
"Father," interposed Charlotte Wentworth, "they must do something more."
