New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-06-15
the room-all the ladies remarl1iug that Davantage
was very nice.
CHAPTER ~.


was very nice.
CHAPTER ".
About fortnight after the above, Mrs. Thomas
determined 20 give dinner party. She had got 10
know several people by this time, and had now lost
all her former anxiety lest she should DC disc1V-
cred. In n visit she made late one n1gnt 10 ner
husband. she gave a full account of her dOlngs to
him and EnsOn that satisfied them both But so
far the scheme had not been n great success. Ire
Duchess, however had ordered a court dress there
which astOnished both the draper and her own
friends about equaly-the one with JOY at the great
catch he had made, the latter with fear That her
BY the counsel of Enson the dress was got from
Worth and sold TO the Duchess El5 below the cost.
This made the Duchess a walking advertisement
for amblyn, even more powerful by her superior
position than his vile with her superior Drains
And there were evident prospects that next year
dozen court dresses would be got from hiin me
advertisement in the window, BY special appoint
ment 10 the Duchess of Epping." was dong Jones
opposite great deal Of harmb but this time he coua
make no retaliation. The Duchess's dress was ex-
posed for a whole day in Tamblyns window, Oy
which device two or three ball dresses II forget
which were ordered for the debuts OF Mrs. Henry
daughters. Mr.. Henry was a butcher OF means,ahu
was Il man of Importance IN his own circle, Dut as
neither he nor any member of his family ever as
sumed the airs of people in other stations OF ne,
we respect them too much to say ANYTHING against
them, AZ in our belief such people are models LOT all
humanity 10 initiate.
The dresses thoy ordered were Just such as they
thought became their stat OF. III life, and an tue
offers OF Tamblyn to make them rivals OF Mayfair
were resisted.
For Mrs. Thomas's party large amount of
chocOlate-cOlOred cashmere was hung III iolds
around the room and over the ceIilrg WIN niue
lnstres Of three candles each where the folds met
The effect was that of n magnificent tent such a3
the PeTsians of old might have had, ana
the appearance when in tho evening the candles
We're lighted, and the little oval looklng-glasses
behind reflected their light so as to prevent any
dark shadow from lurking in any part OF the room,
wac brilliantly effective.
When the guests arrived they could not, of
fail m mot Tpp
tage, who by this time had made such way III hef
regards as 10 be one OF the visitors drew every
ones attention to il, and congratulated Mrs;
Thomas before the whole table on having designed
so novel and charming decoration. she biusled
Of course. at being brought so Inuch INTO notice
and by being pald such fulnohe compliments ny d
Young man only q few years her senior; so after
looking round at each of the guests, and giving n
general smile to them ali, As much as 10 say, now
can / prevent this inSuppreSsible from paying me
these unasked-for attentions ana compliments!
she thanked him, with little laugh for lis aa-
nlratlon Of the hangings, and sad they We're ohIy
o little cashmere she got from taYOTltc draper OF
hers in Bayswater and III the course OF the evening
found an opportunity to say his name was lamblyn.
and that he kept the cheapest ana best shOP III
London.
The dinner party was a capital success, for in an
incredibly short time Mrs. Thomas had made way
for herself in Vanity Far. Ddyentage had nitro
dEced some literary and artistic friends 20 her;
and some half-doZen of them ware present
tonight, so that with some music played by com
poseIs, "A recitation, and gO0d deal OF brilliant
conversation, it could hardly pave been that any
one was much bored.
fl was clear though. that unless something was
done for the ladies all by themselves, nasty-and,
let me add, untrue-thugs might be said about a
little woman who, in spite OF the hypocrisy she was
obliged to carry on and which guawed into her
conscience sadly good aud pure. She guessed
this and therefore prepared to Glyo an entertain
ment such A. her own SEX would ike. ihere were,
OF course, ladies at the dinner party for they must
have made up, should think, about half the whole
company. BIT dinner party 49, Ivy us very
nature nm entertainment for gentlemen, Just as
hoIl il nv q.
ladies' For though the two sexes take part IN
both, the ladies do not feel that they play so I'M
portant part at n dinner as ar nail, especially
when the dinner has several wits and humOrlstS,
and other celebrities of the male sex, present, and
they very naturally prefer the latter where the
poetry of motion we hear so much about nova
DAYS and which is about the only kind Of poetry
ladies care much to cultivate IS Ill demand,
and il figures az such good price IN the market.
And so Mrs Thomas prepared for her ball.
Ter luck in avoiding detection up to this had
made her careless about 1t now She thought IL
could hardly happen. sometimes that II was quite
impossible as she had now gone through almost
everY ordeal that could betray her secret, and saw
no reason why she could not do SO again. She,
therefore felt no anxiety on the issue 81 her next
and biggest entertainment. How foolish we are in
This respect. Because with great precautions we
o,co or twice succeed we are often arrogant
enough TO think we can do so again without tine
yerv means that alone caused our lnch. Kat er
should we double our precautions alter the hrS5
attack is over. for though We may nave repuIsed
the enemy. suspicion or one OF our "eaEest
piac of defence may have been discovered ana IN
be besieged heavily aud we ourselves yanQuished.
Our poor LITTLE heroine could not be expected to
know everything. and on the whole it was quite
natural she should begin to think after a few
months that her .ecIct was safe, and could not he
drawn from her 60 quite forgetting how much
more itwOud be TO guard herself carefully when
under the scrutiny and criticism of multitude Of
her osn SEX she issued day all her
invitations happy in the anticipation instead of
nervous ut the result, of giving ball
Ii should be said-thOugh, we dislike TO let the
reader look behind the curtan-that the third time
Davantage had heard her praise !amblyn's shop he
felt little surprised, and once aterward said rs
Joke that he believed She was paid by Iamblyn to
advertise his shop rs she praised it so much. The
Duchess rebuked him, Saying it was ll-natured to
take away her character" which, though not eX-
actIy what Dayautage had done was understood to
mean that his remark should not have been made.
He laughed hilariOusy at the scOldiGg the Duchess
gave him and then said: " Of course he only spoke
In fun" but added how funny IL would be after all
fl were So" The Duchess again eXpOstulated, and
after another laugh he dropped the subject seeing
that even rs a Joke, professcdly imaginary, she did
notlike 1t. Now, although no one for moment be-
lieved this. or supposed there was the slightest
likelihood of its being true, people were IN sense
prepared, if they got hint from another source on
the same point to gossip about II, and even to
wonder "if such thing were pOsslbleV