The Disgrace to the Family

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER VII. A PARTY AT DE GOSPITCH's, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. How much a richly wedded husband owes To tailors' journeymen, and patent shoes It was the custom of the De Gospitches to give six parties every season. Mr. De Gospitch thought that two assemblies per season would be quite enough, but his wife...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER VII. A PARTY AT DE GOSPITCH's, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. How much a richly wedded husband owes To tailors' journeymen, and patent shoes It was the custom of the De Gospitches to give six parties every season. Mr. De Gospitch thought that two assemblies per season would be quite enough, but his wife declared that she could not do without six at least, and so the husband had to bandage his neck in a white neckcloth six times a year, and to say agreeable nothings to a host that crowded his mansion and ate his suppers. About a fortnight after the visit to the sale Mrs. De G. held an assembly, De Gospitch having had a dinner in the afternoon. The square was thronged with carriages from nine o'clock till half past twelve; a gang of idlers sought to win halfpence by clearing the way for approaching vehicles, or by calling a missing brougham; footmen, making motley groups, talked scandal of the company within; in short, the entire square was filled with evidence of the importance of the party going on at No. ?. The whole interior of the house bespoke the greatness of the occasion. Footmen were bolting in at, and out of, mysterious doors with all kinds of odd looking things in their hands; now and then you had a momentary view of a dish of custards, or a Johnny rushing across the hall with some dozen of ices?the butler, with a look of intense responsibility, bellowing to a fellow who had put pepper into the negus instead of spice; in short, everybody was giving directions to everybody, and nobody seemed to heed the plentiful instructions. Such was the scene without the suite of rooms in which the company were assembled. Let us peep within the ball-room. The band had just intimated the commencemejit of a quadrille, when Mr. Blarmigan asked the hand of Miss Maturi...