Hospitality was quite frequent now in our first English home, as many
letters affirm. The delightful novelty to my small self of a peep at
the glitter of little dinner-parties was as surprising to me as if I
could have had a real consciousness of its contrast to all the former
simplicity of my parents' life. Down the damask trooped the splendid
silver covers, entrancingly catching a hundred reflections from
candle-flame and cut-glass, and my own face as I hovered for a moment
upon the scene while the butler was gliding hither and thither to
complete his artistic arrangements. On my father's side of the family
there had been a distinct trait of material elegance, appearing in
such evidences as an exquisite tea-service, brought from China by my
grandfather, with the intricate monogram and dainty shapes and
decoration of a hundred years ago; and in a few chairs and tables that
could not be surpassed for graceful design and finish; and so on. As
for my mother's traits of inborn refinement, they were marked enough,
but she writes of herself to her sister at this time, "You cannot
think how I cannot be in the least tonish, such is my indomitable
simplicity of style." Her opinion of herself was always humble; and I
can testify to the distinguished figure she made as she wore the first
ball-dress I ever detected her in. I was supposed to be fast asleep,
and she had come to look at me before going out to some social
function, as she has told me she never failed to do when leaving the
house for a party.
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