Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-05-24

| the height OF his approval was expressed by
"tol-lol," meaning .'tolerable;" tholgh once /
| certainly heard him 60 so tar as to call a thing
rather jolly" My younger daughter, Patty,
who is very Obseryant, used TO laugh and saw
that Kelly was very wise to be lackadasical
| about everything, because, as he knew so little
and had no feelings and no ideas if he was not
| lackadaislcal he would be nothing. And from
/ pretty long acquaintance with him, 1 can
safely say that, if he had any ideas, he was al
ways admirably successful in concealing them.
In a word he was quite the hero OF certain mod
ern novelists; and the very difficulty of thawing
this fashionable icicle made Molly and several
other young ladies attempt the enterprise But
az yet the icicle remained an icicle, and would
melt 10 no warmth they could apply.
! Next after Kelly on our common list came
the names Of the Nyners-father, mother and
| two daughters-without whose eyes to observe
| our success in securing Fred the triumph would
scarcely have been complete. All the rich peO-
pie OF our acquaintance followed: singularly
| enough, there was not a shadow OF doubt about
| any of these, nor about that tawny young idiot
Northcoat who knew the younger son OF lord.
Two building barristers from the Temple were
also passed mem oa,-"they moved in such good
society" 1 suggested asking the Prince and
| Princess of Wales, but found my little joke re-
eelyed flor the first time, must confess,) with
chilling silence, as the awful gravity OF the &C.
casiOn required.
There was also a charming unanimity about
| asking some of our less important acquain-
| lance. Thus poor Miss Graham was asked, be-
cause she was so gOOd-natured, and ''never OBJ
lected 10 play any quantity OF dance music"
Then Tomlins could carve, and Nickers talk so
wei Mrs. Grubblns, too, and the three Miss
Grublneses, would be mOrtally offended if they
were lett out-so ''there was no help for it. we
must have them"
Other names caused more discussion. was
obstinate when i found my wife and Molly
were positively thinking OF leaving out my old
seh9ol-iellow, DICK Wotherspoon,,the best OF
good fellows, only rather rough in his manners,
as most of these enthusiastic artists 1t
was not, however, on this account 80 much that
my wife disliked him, as the fact that through
he N he haa 4
way at all in life. and was himself beginning
TO think he had mistaken his profession. In
deed, he was so poor that had frequently lent
him five-pound note. But 1 now overruled
my wlfe's objections to him and insisted on his
being invited. With his name our list of forty
nye was complete, that number being ten or
fifteen people more than our rooms would
really hold; but then, as my wife said, :. They
would he sure, some of them to be engaged; and
so We might as well have the credit OF inviting
them all as not
To be in proper form, we gave a ten DAYS in
yltation, and the interval was ruled over by the
milliners. From morning to night there was
nothing but consultations about blonde and
muslin, mauye and magenta, or critical exami-
nation of patterns, Fittings on" For my
part, undertook 10 look after the tea, supper,
and attendance, for all of which 1t was ALSO
lutely necessary to contract, since we only
Kept a fat maid servant of twenty, whom my
wife ON the strength of her being able to boil
potatoes hard and reduce mutton chops to Gin
ders, dignitied with the name of cook and
one little girl of thirteen, scarcely able to lift
Stop Dali. whom We called "hOuSe- malu.'
must say that | never felt myself in such a
ludicrously mean position as l did when was
bargaining with the unctuous uphOlsterer in
the next street for stylish supper ON hired
dishes TO be handed round by three imitation
fOotmcn, being the uIllOlsterer's assistants.
The whole thing did seem such a sham, like
playing the peacock with borrowed feathers.
The all-impOrtant night arrived at last, and
the fever OF expectation and anxiety which had
held my woman-kind all the month reached its
height.
Jonu SbaI \ ha I'm E,rra+.;,o ,ba ,,ronoro.;o,e
and fuss OF that dreary evening-the hurried
tea. the IaborIOus dressing, the solemn single
knock Of the uPholsterer's men, like the under
taker bringing a coffin, the frantic appeals to
Sarah to ''cOme and fasten me;'' the rustic OF
skirts in the passages; the flying about of dis
traeted cook and house maid; the. staid method
lcal movements of the long-visaged walters.
But as the clock struck the fatal hour of nine
We were all assembled in state ready for the
first conner, my wife buttOning her white Kid
gloves, and still red III the face with her ner-
yousness and exertiOns. As a proof that her
eNertions had been attended with some sue
cess, may state that overheard one OF our
Young barristers telling NOrthcoat. ''She
looked very handsome Dutch Venus indeed
L had scarcely taken my place on the hearth
rug, when loud ran-tan at the door and n
hearty voice in the passage announced the first
arrival. 80 Mr.. WOtherspOOn.' whispered NV
wife TO me, with touch of annoyance in her
tong; he, at any rate, takes care to be punctual.
Knows no better, / suppose When he
ushered III by one OF the imitation fOotmen he
took much the same view of our proceedings as
took myself, and began chatting me in his
free and easy way. "Well, now, Miller, TO
What on earth possessed you to begin giving
State parties, eh?' But Mrs. Miller-with that
increase of dignity which the peach-cOlOred
satin always gives her-cut hisaudaciOus levity
short by asking sharply, ''Well and why
shouldn't we give party like any one else.
Mr-a-Mr. WotherspOon?'' The assumed for
getfulness of his name was a masterpiece, and
capitally done, considering she had never prac-
ticed the art of snubbing before. At all events,
poor Dick seemed TO have the ground taken
from under him at once, and he subsidized into
corner near Patty, where he seemed to be bet
ter welcomed.
But bark! the roll of wheels-sthe brazen
thunders of the dOOr'-SOOn not intermittent,
but cOntinuOus-and we arelpresently in the
thick of il. Kelly came about ten, a little
sitter than usual; but not till about half-past
did the ' yners sweep INTO the room, Mrs Wy
ner overwhelming courteous and patrOnZng
in her black velvet dress. But she soon con-
trlved without saying so) to make us under
stand that she wondered we could venture to
invite her, and that she considered it no little
condescensOn Oh her part to come.
There could be no doubt that my daughter
| Molly and Ellen Nyner were the prettiest girls
in the room. Yet it was amusing to note the
difference in their style and appearance. Molly,
whose good-natured rosy face above her light
blue dress seemed like a cherub's floating in the
sky, was radiant, full of life and sweet as a new
blown rose; but she was a little too eager to
| please, ana tried too evidently to make every
handLpale, slight. and with finely chiseIed
features-moved through the rooms a very
/ statue of dignity and self-possession. Quiet
! perfectly well bred, and polite, she rather dis
| cOuraged the advances of her admirers, in
/ GLIDING Kelly, but her very encouragement
| seemed only to make them more attentive. III
| she had a fault, il was that she evidently knew
| her own value so well; sha might have been a
| dukes daughter instead of a brewer's-thOugh,
| indeed, believed Nyner and many of his BUSH
| ness think brewer or a banker nowadays a
| greater xrandee than any nObleman.
I am glad to saw the party itself nOtwith-
| standing our misgivings, went off without any
| particular hitch. In fact, it seemed very like
| thousands OF similar affairs given by people OF
4 the middle classes who know no better. There
was the same stiffness and reserve at first, since
| in such a miscellaneous gathering very few Of
\ the guests were acquainted with each other;
4 the same gradual thawing as We got up a little
dance. (Which with hypocrisy that deceived no
| body, we pretended TO extemporze); the same
| intense heat in the rooms, the same tanning in
| the doOr-ways, the same fOrlorn groups i'm the
corners, groups that looked "a if they knew they
! ought to be enjoying themselves and were not.
And when the novelty OF the position wore OF,
did not find il very difficult to play the part of
host. SO tried TO say pheasant word to any
| guest that seemed dull, arranged a couple of