Having just arrived from New York, where she has been luxuriating and
selecting her wares for the coming season, (New York is the fountain
ejecting its vice over this Union,) Madame looks hale, hearty, and
exceedingly cheerful. Nor has she spared any expense to make herself up
with becoming youthfulness-as the common people have it. She has got
her a lace cap of the latest fashion, with great broad striped blue and
red strings; and her dress is of orange- colored brocade, trimmed with
tulle, and looped with white blossoms. Down the stomacher it is set
with jewels. Her figure seems more embonpoint than when we last saw
her; and as she leans on the arm of old Judge Sleepyhorn, forms a
striking contrast to the slender figure of that singular specimen of
judicial infirmity. Two great doors are opened, and Madame leads the
way into what she calls her upper and private parlor, a hall of some
fifty feet by thirty, in the centre of which a sumptuously-decorated
table is set out. Indeed there is a chasteness and richness about the
furniture and works of art that decorate this apartment, singularly at
variance with the bright-colored furniture of the room we have
described in a former chapter. “Ladies and gentlemen!” ejaculates the
old hostess, “imagine this a palace, in which you are all welcome. As
the legal gentry say (she casts a glance at the old Judge), when you
have satisfactorily imagined that, imagine me a princess, and address
me—”
“High ho!” interrupts Mr. Soloman.
“I confess,” continues the old woman, her little, light-brown curls
dangling across her brow, and her face crimsoning, “I would like to be
a princess.”
“You can,” rejoins the former speaker, his fingers wandering to his
chin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account