The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-01-08

whatever the subject in hand may be. One
lady was giving another minute account
of how the bride looked yesterday, when
she was married to Mr.. e., of somewhat
formidable ropute, and with whom, if re-
port was to be trusted, her listener had had
sundry tender passages which made the
mention of his me- rriage a notoriously soto
subject. "Ah, L see y0m have taken that
old silk which Madame Josephine wanted
to palm off on me last year." said the tor
tured listener brusquely, breaking into the
narrative without led of any kind; and
the speaker was silenced.
In this case it was the interchange of
doubtful courtesies, wherein neither de-
served pity; but to make dispnraging re-
mark about a gown, in revenge for turning
the knife in wound was a thoroughly
feminine manner of retaliation, and one that
would not have touched q man. Such shafts
would fall blunted against the rugged skin
of the coarser creatures; and the date or
pattern of bit of cloth would not have told
much against the loss of lover. But as
most women passionatcly care for dress,
their toilet is one of their most vulnerable
parts. Ashamed to be questionable they
tolerate anything in each other rather than
shabbiness or eccentricity, even when
picturesque; hence q sarcastic allusion to
the age of few yards of silk is return
wound Of considerable depth when cleverly
given.
The introduction of womankind belong
ing to favorite male acquaintance of lower
social condition, affords splendid oppor-
tunity for the display of feminine amenity.
The presentation cannot be refused, yet it
is resented as an intrusion; and the smaller
woman is made to feel that she has offended.
''Another daughter, Mr.. c.! You must
have dozen daughters, surely" a peeress
said disdainfully to acommoner, whom per-
sonally she liked but whose family she did
not want to know. The poor man had but
two, and this was the introduction of the
second. Very painful to high-spirited
gentlewoman must be the way in which
superior creature of this kind receives her,
if not of the samo set as herself. The hus-
band of the inferior creature may be
"adored" as men are adored by fashionable
women who love only themselves. and care
only for their own pleasures. Artist, man
of letters, beau Sabreur he is the passing
idol, the temporary toy of certain circle;
and his wife has to be tolerated for his sake,
and because she is lady and fit to be pre-
sented, though an outsider So they pa-
tronize her till the poor woman's blood is
on fire, or they snub her till she has no
moral consistency left in her; and is reduced
to q mere mass of pulp They keep her in
another room while they talk to their init
where she is made to feel like Gentle
among the faithful, where either they leave
her unspoken to altogether, or else speak to
her un subjects quite apart from the general
conversation, rs if she was incapable of un-
dcrstanding them on their own ground
Iney ASK her 10 dinner without her hus-
Dand. and take care that there is no one to
meet her whom she would like to see; but
they ask him when they are ut their grand
est. and express their deep regret that his
WI VIE lunlhvltedD cannot accompany him.
Ihey know every turn and twist that can
Illuminate her, If sho has pretensions which
they choose to demolish They praise her
toilet Tor It's good taste in simplicity, when
she thinks she is one of the finest on an
occasion on which no one can be too fine:
they tell her that pattern of hers is perfect
and made just like the dear duchess famous
dress last season, when she believes that she
has Madame Josephine's last, freshly i'm
ported from Paris; they celebrate her din
ner as the very perfection of a refined fami-
~ dinner, without parade or cost, though it
has all been had from the crack confection-
ers, and though the bill for the entertain
ment will cause many day of family
plnching These are the things which
women say to one another when they wish
t. pain and humiliate, and which pain and
humiliate some more than would a positive
disgrace. For some women are distressingly
sensitive about these little matters. Their
lives are made up of trifes, and a failure in
trlfle is failure in their object of life.
Women can do each other no end of de-
spite in small way in society, not to speak
OF mischief of grave kind. A hostess who
has grudge against one of her guests can
always insure her disappointing evening
under cover of doing her supreme honor
and paying her extra attention. If she
sees the enemy engaged in pleasant con-
versation with one Of the male stars, down
she swoops. and in the sweetest manner