The Frozen Deep - Au Wilkie Collins

The date is between twenty and thirty years ago. The place is an English sea-port. The time is night. And the business of the moment is-dancing. The Mayor and Corporation of the town are giving a grand ball, in celebration of the departure of an Arctic expedition from their port. The ships of the expedition are two in number-the Wanderer and the Sea-mew. They are to sail (in search of the Northwest Passage) on the next day, with the morning tide. Honor to the Mayor and Corporation! It is a brilliant ball. The band is complete. The room is spacious. The large conservatory opening out of it is pleasantly lighted with Chinese lanterns, and beautifully decorated with shrubs and flowers. All officers of the army and navy who are present wear their uniforms in honor of the occasion. Among the ladies, the display of dresses (a subject which the men don't understand) is bewildering-and the average of beauty (a subject which the men do understand) is the highest average attainable, in all parts of the room.