She wished to know if the oyster-omelet (accompanying the cheese) had been received as a welcome dish, and treated with a just recognition of its merits.

The answer to this was decidedly in the negative.

Mr.Romayne and Miss Eyrecourt had declined to taste it.

My lord had tried it, and had left it on his plate.

My lady alone had really eaten her share of the misplaced dish.
Having stated this apparently trivial circumstance, the head servant was surprised by the effect which it produced on the housekeeper.