|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 75
'Oh, that is well. How fortunate! The Winslows are going to Europe to
reside, and I think will sell theirs. One of the best in the church.
Pray ask Mr. Bennett to look after it.'
'Thank you. How very considerate, how very thoughtful! We will see to it
at once.'
The interview ended, after some further conversation, in a manner most
satisfactory.
* * * * *
It was a magnificent autumnal afternoon, the second week of October,
when Hiram Meeker, by previous appointment, called at the residence of
the Rev. Augustus Myrtle. The house was built on to the church, so as to
correspond in architecture, and exhibited great taste in exterior as
well as interior arrangement. Hiram walked up the steps and boldly rang
the bell. He had improved a good deal in some respects since his passage
at arms with Dr. Chellis, and while under the auspices of Mr. Bennett.
He had laid aside the creamy air he used so frequently to assume, and
had hardened himself, so to speak, against contingencies. I was saying
he marched boldly up and rang the bell.
A footman in unexceptionable livery opened the door. Mr. Myrtle was
engaged, but on Hiram's sending in his name, he was ushered into the
front parlor, and requested to sit, and informed that Mr. Myrtle would
see him in a few minutes. This gave Hiram time to look about him.
It so happened that it was the occasion of a preliminary gathering for
the season (there had been no meeting since June) of those who belonged
to the 'Society for the Relief of Reduced Ladies of former Wealth and
Refinement.' This 'relief' consisted in furnishing work to the
recipients of the _bounty_ at prices about one quarter less than they
could procure elsewhere, and without experiencing a sense of obligation
which these charitable ladies managed to call forth.
There was already in the back parlor a bevy of six or eight, principally
young, fine-looking, and admirably dressed women.
Arrayed in the most expensive silks, of rich colors, admirably
corresponding with the season, fitted in a mode the most faultless to
the exquisite forms of these fair creatures, or made dexterously to
conceal any natural defect, they rose, they sat, they walked up and down
the room, greeting from time to time the new comers as they arrived.
The conversation turned meanwhile on the way the summer had been spent,
and much delicate gossip was broached or hinted at, but not entered
into. Next the talk was about dress. The names of the several
fashionable dressmakers were quoted as authority for this, and
denunciatory of that. Congratulations were exchanged: 'How charmingly
you look--how sweet that is--what a lovely bonnet!'
All this Hiram Meeker drank in with open ears and eyes, for from where
he was sitting, he could see everything that was going on, as well as
hear every word.
One thing particularly impressed him. He felt that never before had he
been in such society. The ladies of Dr. Chellis's church were
intelligent, refined, and well bred, but here was TON--that
unmistakable, unquestionable _ton_ which arrogates everything unto
itself, claims everything, and with a certain class _is_ everything.
I need not say, to a person of Hiram's keen and appreciative sense, the
picture before him was most attractive. How perfect was every point in
it! What minute and fastidious attention had been devoted to every
article of dress! How every article had been specially _designed_ to set
off and adorn! The hat, how charming; the hair, how exquisitely coiffed;
the shawl, how magnificent; the dress how rich! The gloves, of what
admirable tint, and how neatly fitted; and how wonderfully were the
walking boots adapted to display foot and ankle! And these did not
distinguish one, but _every one_ present.
I do not wonder Hiram was carried away by the spectacle. There is
something very overpowering in such a scene. Who is sufficient to resist
its seductive influences?
In the midst of what might be called a trance, when Hiram's senses were
wrapt in a sort of charmed Elysium, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle entered the
room. He did not look toward Hiram, but passed directly into the back
parlor. He walked along, not as if he were stepping on eggs, but very
smoothly and noiselessly, as if treading (as he was doing) on the finest
of velvet carpets.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|