"Ask Mamma"; or, The Richest Commoner In EnglandSurtees, Robert Smith
General
"Ask Mamma"; or, The Richest Commoner In England
Surtees, Robert Smith
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Fox hunting -- Fiction
“A superfine black cloth coat, lappels sewed on” (we wonder if
they are usually pinned or glued) “lappels sewed on, cloth
collar, cotton sleeve linings, velvet handfacings,” (most likely
cotton too,) “embossed edges and fine wove buttons”—how much does
the reader think? four guineas? four pound ten? five guineas? No,
five pound eighteen and sixpence! An article that our own
excellent tailor supplies for three pounds fifteen! In a tailor’s
case that was recently tried, a party swore that fourteen guineas
was a fair price for a Taglioni, when every body knows that they
are to be had for less than four. But boys will be boys to the
end of the chapter, so let us return to our sporting Major. He is
not so happy in his nether garments as he is in his upper ones;
indeed he has on the same boots and moleskins that Leech drew him
in at Tantivy Castle, for these lower habiliments are not so easy
of accomplishment in the country as coats, and though most people
have tried them there, few wear them out, they are always so ugly
and unbecoming. As, however, our Major doesn’t often compare his
with town-made ones, he struts about in the comfortable belief
that they are all right—very smart.
He is now in a terrible stew, and has been backwards and forwards
between the house and the stable, and in and out of the kennel,
and has called Solomon repeatedly from his work to give him
further instructions and further instructions still, until the
Major has about confused himself and every body about him. As
soon as ever he heard by his tramp overhead that Billy had got
into his boots, he went to the bottom of the stairs and holloaed
along the passage towards the kitchen. “Betty! Betty! Betty! send
in breakfast as soon as ever Mr. Pringle comes down!”’ “Ah, dere
is de Majur.” observed Monsieur, pausing from Billy’s
hair-arranging to listen—“him kick up dc deval’s own dost on a
huntin’ mornin’.”
“What’s happened him?” asked Billy.
“Don’t know—but von vould think he was going to storm a city—take
Sebastopol himself,” replied Monsieur, shrugging his broad
shoulders. He then resumed his valeting operations, and crowned
the whole by putting Billy into his green cut-away, without
giving him even a peep of the pink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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