Sentence:  This was an occasion, if ever, for Lord Mellifont's tact, which descended on us all like balm. He told us, in his charming, artistic way, his way of bridging over arid intervals... of his own collapse on a momentous occasion, the delivery of an address to a mighty multitude, when, finding he had forgotten his memoranda, he fumbled on the terrible platform, the <WSD>cynosure</WSD> of every eye, fumbled vainly in irreproachable pockets for indispensable notes. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Something that is the center of attention; an object that serves as a focal point of attraction and admiration.