 In the ball @-@ room , the long card @-@ room , the octagonal card @-@ room , the staircases , and the passages , the hum of many voices , and the sound of many feet , were perfectly bewildering . Dresses rustled , feathers waved , lights shone , and jewels sparkled . There was the music — not of the quadrille band , for it had not yet commenced ; but the music of soft tiny footsteps , with now and then a clear merry laugh — low and gentle , but very pleasant to hear in a female voice , whether in Bath or elsewhere . 
