On the tapis

"Well, I must say, it is a comfort to have any body like you about one, Helen, for Georgiana (...) is really over head and ears in love with that sailor (...); she thinks of nothing else, I am convinced, though the most spirit-stirring affair in the world is on the tapis—your brother Glentworth's election.

And a sudden chorus of “Oh noes,” uttered ironically by the other boys, brought Aunt Belle on the tapis, with a stern admonition to be quiet.