The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-06

NEW YORK. May Stay me
with tea pots, comfort me with buttered
toast. for / am sick of society and the
demands for dress it makes upon its
slaves. l am longing TO go out into
the country very soon armed with a goii
suit, sun bonnet and a pair Of tennis
shoes and not look upon the face of Mrs.
Grundy, If l can help it, until the sEoS
drives me back to town next autumn
What nonsense you do talk, Maisie
Graham, insisted the hostess. Lifting
flame and preparing TO deluge a fresh
supply of tea leaves. You know per-
fectly well that you have accepted
dozens of invitations to visit during the
summer at Newport. Bar HarbOr and
goodness only knows what other cen
TVS of extreme gayety and fashion and
all these pastoral longings Of yours
arise from the extreme exhaustion of
shopping in preparation for tour among
the halls of TIE gay an. proud"
Languidly enclosing her eyes and lift
ing her toque-crowned head from the pill
lows of a deep chair. Maisie smiled. II
am she began. 1.-The victim CT grim Ee-
cessity. My father is acting very naughi-
lily. He assures me he is too poor TO take
such an ideal retired farm for the sum-
mer as / long 10 live upon and therefore
it remains for me to fling myself on The
charity of my friends or go to the Paris
Exposition. That is why and only why |
don't do as l please. retire into hermit'G
life for six blissful summer months. WOO
nature and"
Grow horribly bored in three days and
come hurrying back to town. You lock
like w9oing nature in that atsurdly lovely
clinging brown cloth skirt and cerise satin
waist Where did you get the waist Ma
sie?" enQuired the hostess.
-'This?" carelessly; do you really like
it? 1t is part of the brown suit. With
my skirt goes Jacket. left out on the
seat of the carriage, a bolero. of course
stitched in red and this waist is Liberty
satin set of with spotted red and white
taffeta. The suit and bodice forced me 10
buy this brown ecru hat with the two red
feathers that the batwoman assured me
was only eight days out of Paris. where
the toques grow bigger by the hour and
are nine-tenths blue. Rather nice combi-
nation this, though my choice wavered long
between this waist and one of white ar
mure silk sof; and rich the satin and
beautifully stitched and spotted in black
After all you know nothing gives a more
dressy effect than those taffetas of divers
eolors with black velvet spots raised on the
surface.
The one wanted had, it is needless to
say a yoke of white hand embroidered
lawn and undersleeves of the same and if
| don't have a gown with pair of under
sleeves soon / shall consider myself hope
lessly out of the running. Only yesterday
Mrs Van Knickerbocker came in beaming
TO luncheon with a parcel in her hand that
proved to contain an exquisite pair of old
lace undersleeves she had picked up at
bric- a-brac shop for truly absurd price
True of old English needle point they were
and at the wrist they will be fastened with
gathering threads of the uarrowest black
velvet ribbon and tiny fiat gold buttons.
Mrs X. was arrayed. by the way,
in gown worthy of description. a pleated
skirt of the palest beige. and you know. of
course that that is the French modiste's
name for light brown. wool grenadine. Sap
de printemps, or springtime cloth, was. she
told me. its technical title and that fell in
the most gracious lines upon petticoat
of cerise taffeta. Her waist had close fit
ting lining of cerise taffeta and vas itself
all OF ecru tinted Luxeuil lace, very coarse
and heavy and decorated with the very
narrowest black bebe ribbon gathered and
ueanderirg prettily all over the pattern
OF the lace itself collar and girdle of
ecru liberty silk completed the thing and
that with a hat of ecru mOhair woven in
with black velvet ribbon and distinguished
by a big bunch of red, white, and black