The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-18
LUNCHEON IN HIGH SOCIETY.
Twcnty-Seven Minutes the Time
Limit in London.
From the New York sun


THE hostess wanted to show me ard
my husband some attention" the woman
just back from London explained. be
cause We had been very nice to her on one
of her visits here. and being an American,
although married for years TO an English
man of title, thought that she ought to re-
turn the courtesy. If she had been an Eng
lish woman the idea would probably never
have occurred to her She asked US to
luncheon at . o'clock. We arrived about on
time and found three other people besides
the hostess. Her husband. who is an Of
Ger in the army, was not there and. in
deed, he was rarely seen at home. So there
was nothing surprising in that. We went
in to luncheon Immediately. One of the
women was New Yorker married to a
German Of title, who Is mott able to return
to his own country. as the father in Law in
the case has not yet consented to pay all
of his gambling debts and he lives in Monte
Carlo, while his wife spends most of her
time in London; an English woman of I'll
tie and position related to the hostess
husband: and an English younger ION of
title, who was expecting to make his debut
as an actor as soon some manager would
consent to engage him. 1t struck me at
a glance that the little group was not bril-
liant, although the titles and names would
all have looked well in print.
l thought that the presence of the rich
New Workers. daughter and the titled
English woman must have meant that
there were other objects than our enter
tainment in giving the luncheon. The
two had never met before, and when
heard the English woman tell the Ameri-
can princess that she intended to send
her Il card to a musicale, l knew their
acquaintance was one object OF the lunch
con. But that such a hollow ceremony
could have accomplished anything was
incredible. Within twenty-seven minutes
after We sat down. we were back in the
drawing-room and luncheon was over.
We had three courses, soup, meat. pie
and salad. l have eaten in railroad
stations once or twice in my life, but they
were slow and easy going compared to
the rate at which that luncheon was
served. Two buffers were in attendance.
and, in accordance with English CUSTOM,
we were asked at the beginning OF the
meal if we wanted red wine or white.
Between each of the three courses the
butler filled the glasses.
The hostess ate very little, and sat in
her chair with the uneasness that one
feels while waiting for a bell to ring an
nouncing that the train is to start. The
others nibbled rapidly. drank quickly. and
seemed 10 know that it was a meal not to
be dawdled over. The hostess kept up a
running fire Of conversation. asked ques-
tons without waiting for answers, and
seemed tremendously relieved when she
had got us all out of the dining room and
knew that matters could not be prolonged
much further. Her husbands cousin lefj
first and drove home with the American
hciress. We went Immediately afteTward.
and as We were leaving | heard the hostess
tell the titled amateur that she might meet
him at garden party in about half an
hour. ! knew that il would take her tina:
long 10 change her dress and drive to the
place she mentioned. so IL was not with ths
idea of getting an afternoons rest that she
hurried through the luncheon. | spoke of
the matter afterward TO a friend that lived
in London She told me that there was
nothing to be surprised at In the hurry OF
the hostess. She had II position in London
that compelled her to entertain many per-
sons, and 1t was not possible for her 10
spend much time over all of them, as sh.
was compelled to be In many places. AS
to whether the whole affair was in good
taste she would not say. But l told her
that it was a very slight compliment 10
anybody to be asked to twenty-seven-
minute luncheon. even with the Queen.
And / have always remembered that Lon
don experience whenever | heard of the
hurried manner of doing things in New
Va RI,