English fiction -- 20th century; English wit and humor; Humorous stories, English; Short stories, English; Sports stories
We are supposed to do the "revelling" as soon as we come in. As I
lead my partner down the steps I say to her, "Our revel, I think?"
and she replies, "Shall we revel, or shall we sit it out?" After a
little discussion we decide to revel, partly because there is nowhere
to sit down, and partly because the prompter has his eye on us. Now
I don't know what your idea of revelling is, but mine would include
at the very least a small ginger ale and a slice of seed-cake. I
mean, I don't think that would be overdoing it at all. But do you
suppose we are allowed this--or indeed anything? Not likely. And
yet it is just a little touch of that sort which gives verisimilitude
to a whole pageant.
Before we have really got through our revelling the band strikes up,
and suddenly we are all in our places for the minuet. Now, although
you have paid your two guineas like a man, and are sitting in the
very front row, you mustn't think we have taken all this trouble of
learning the minuet simply to amuse you. Not at all. We are doing
it for the sake of King George the Second, no less; a command
performance. And so, when we are all in a line, just ready to start,
and I whisper to my partner, "I say, I'm awfully sorry, but I've
forgotten the minuet. Let's do the Lancers instead," she whispers
back, "Quick! George is looking at me. Is my patch on straight?"
"No," I say. "Now, don't forget you have to smile all the time.
Hallo, we're off."
I am not going to describe the dance to you, because it is too
difficult. But I may say briefly that there's a whole lot of things
you do with your feet, and another whole lot with your hands; that
you have to sway your body about in an easy and graceful manner; that
you must keep one eye on the ground to see that you don't fall over
the sandhills, and another eye on your partner to see that she is
doing it all right, and the two of you a joint eye on everybody else
to see that the affair is going symmetrically. And _then_--then
comes the final instruction: "Don't look anxious. Smile, and seem to
be enjoying yourself."
So far I have resisted the inclination to smile. The fact is that
when I cast aside my usual habiliments and take upon me the
personality of another I like to do the thing thoroughly--to enter
into the spirit of the part. Now I will put the case before you, and
you shall say whether I am not right.
Here we have, as I conceive the situation, a sprig of the nobility,
Tunbridge Wells. He is a modest young man, who spends most of his
time at his lovely Kentish seat, flanked by fine old forest
trees--preferring the quiet of the country to the noise and bustle of
London.
One day, however, he ventures up to town, and looking in at his
customary coffee-house is hailed by an acquaintance. Tunbridge
Wells, I may mention, is beautifully attired in a long blue coat,
white satin waistcoat, fancy breeches, with quaint designs painted on
them, silk stockings, and shoes which are too small for him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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