The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

purpose. He feared he had “missed a trick,” as he expressed it.

He only found one little opportunity of speaking again with Laura before

the evening’s festivities ended, and then, for the first time in years,

his airy self-complacency failed him, his tongue’s easy confidence

forsook it in a great measure, and he was conscious of an unheroic

timidity. He was glad to get away and find a place where he could

despise himself in private and try to grow his clipped plumes again.

When Laura reached home she was tired but exultant, and Senator Dilworthy

was pleased and satisfied. He called Laura “my daughter,” next morning,

and gave her some “pin money,” as he termed it, and she sent a hundred

and fifty dollars of it to her mother and loaned a trifle to Col.

Sellers. Then the Senator had a long private conference with Laura, and

unfolded certain plans of his for the good of the country, and religion,

and the poor, and temperance, and showed her how she could assist him in

developing these worthy and noble enterprises.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Laura soon discovered that there were three distinct aristocracies in

Washington. One of these, (nick-named the Antiques,) consisted of

cultivated, high-bred old families who looked back with pride upon an

ancestry that had been always great in the nation’s councils and its wars

from the birth of the republic downward. Into this select circle it was

difficult to gain admission. No. 2 was the aristocracy of the middle

ground–of which, more anon. No. 3 lay beyond; of it we will say a word

here. We will call it the Aristocracy of the Parvenus–as, indeed, the

general public did. Official position, no matter how obtained, entitled

a man to a place in it, and carried his family with him, no matter whence

they sprang. Great wealth gave a man a still higher and nobler place in

it than did official position. If this wealth had been acquired by

conspicuous ingenuity, with just a pleasant little spice of illegality

about it, all the better. This aristocracy was “fast,” and not averse to

ostentation.

The aristocracy of the Antiques ignored the aristocracy of the Parvenus;

the Parvenus laughed at the Antiques, (and secretly envied them.)

There were certain important “society” customs which one in Laura’s

position needed to understand. For instance, when a lady of any

prominence comes to one of our cities and takes up her residence, all the

ladies of her grade favor her in turn with an initial call, giving their

cards to the servant at the door by way of introduction. They come

singly, sometimes; sometimes in couples; and always in elaborate full

dress. They talk two minutes and a quarter and then go. If the lady

receiving the call desires a further acquaintance, she must return the

visit within two weeks; to neglect it beyond that time means “let the

matter drop.” But if she does return the visit within two weeks, it then

becomes the other party’s privilege to continue the acquaintance or drop

it. She signifies her willingness to continue it by calling again any

time within twelve-months; after that, if the parties go on calling upon

each other once a year, in our large cities, that is sufficient, and the

acquaintanceship holds good. The thing goes along smoothly, now.

The annual visits are made and returned with peaceful regularity and

bland satisfaction, although it is not necessary that the two ladies

shall actually see each other oftener than once every few years. Their

cards preserve the intimacy and keep the acquaintanceship intact.

For instance, Mrs. A. pays her annual visit, sits in her carriage and

sends in her card with the lower right hand corner turned down, which

signifies that she has “called in person;” Mrs. B: sends down word that

she is “engaged” or “wishes to be excused”–or if she is a Parvenu and

low-bred, she perhaps sends word that she is “not at home.” Very good;

Mrs. A. drives, on happy and content. If Mrs. A.’s daughter marries,

or a child is born to the family, Mrs. B. calls, sends in her card with

the upper left hand corner turned down, and then goes along about her

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *