The French armies were not far off, and there were alarums and excursions all along the border.

We decide to balance out the grease with something sweet, so she takes me to a bingsu place around the corner.

The visitor who sets foot within those precincts in which, year by year, colossal warriors jostle nymphs who, in their turn, leer at be-cloaked and be-togaed statesmen—under whose very eyes naked little Cupids sprawl and play antics that ought to put to the blush those respectable male and female busts which are literally shelved all round—cannot but feel stunned and dizzy, as it were, with the bustle and confusion of the crowd, from the moment of his entry to that of his exit.

He was noted to entertain lavishly, throwing the biggest and best parties in town.