His eye was on me, if I let my plate go away before it was empty--his eye said "I have paid for this magnificent dinner, and I mean to see you eat it." Our printed list of the dishes, as they succeeded each other, also informed us of the varieties of wine which it was imperatively necessary to drink with each dish.

I got into difficulties early in the proceedings.

The taste of sherry, for instance, is absolutely nauseous to me; and Rhine wine turns into vinegar ten minutes after it has passed my lips.

I asked for the wine that I could drink, out of its turn.

You should have seen Mr.
Farnaby's face, when I violated the rules of his dinner-table! It was the one amusing incident of the feast--the one thing that alleviated the dreary and mysterious spectacle of Mrs.Farnaby.There she sat, with her mind hundreds of miles away from everything that was going on about her, entangling the two guests, on her right hand and on her left, in a network of vacant questions, just as she had entangled me.