Coningsby or the New Generation

It appeared to Coningsby in his way to his room, that the Castle was in / a state of great excitement; everywhere bustle, preparation, moving to / and fro, ascending and descending of stairs, servants in every / corner; orders boundlessly given, rapidly obeyed; many desires, equal / gratification. All this made him rather nervous. It was quite unlike / Beaumanoir. That also was a palace, but it was a home. This, though it / should be one to him, seemed to have nothing of that character. Of / all mysteries the social mysteries are the most appalling. Going to / an assembly for the first time is more alarming than the first battle. / Coningsby had never before been in a great house full of company. It / seemed an overwhelming affair. The sight of the servants bewildered him; / how then was he to encounter their masters?

That, however, he must do in a moment. A groom of the chambers indicates / the way to him, as he proceeds with a hesitating yet hurried step / through several ante-chambers and drawing-rooms; then doors are suddenly / thrown open, and he is ushered into the largest and most sumptuous / saloon that he had ever entered. It was full of ladies and gentlemen. / Coningsby for the first time in his life was at a great party. His / immediate emotion was to sink into the earth; but perceiving that no / one even noticed him, and that not an eye had been attracted to his / entrance, he regained his breath and in some degree his composure, and / standing aside, endeavoured to make himself, as well as he could, master / of the land.