It was a festive
scene, brilliant and extravagant beyond anything we had ever
witnessed, and quite bewildering to minds like ours. Mrs. Dewey was
dressed like a queen, and radiant in pearls and diamonds. I
questioned her good taste in this, as hostess; and think she knew
better--but the temptation to astonish the good people of S----was
too strong to be resisted.
After the curtain fell on this brilliant spectacle, Mrs. Dewey
assumed a stately air, showing, on all occasions, a conscious
superiority that was offensive to our really best people. There are
in all communities a class who toady to the rich; and we had a few
of these in S----. They flattered the Deweys, and basked in the
sunshine of their inflated grandeur.
I was not one towards whom Mrs. Dewey put on superior airs. My
profession brought me into a kind of relation to her that set aside
all pretence. Very soon after her removal to S----, my services were
required in the family, one of her two children having been attacked
with measles. On the occasion of my first call, I referred,
naturally, to the fact of her removal from New York, and asked how
she liked the change.
Pages:
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