The Greatest Plague of Life: or, the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant.Mayhew, Henry
General
The Greatest Plague of Life: or, the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant.
Mayhew, Henry
English wit and humor; Household employees
My mamma tried in vain to console me. She told me that I had nothing to
fear about entering into life, and begged of me to summon up all my
inward woman, to give me strength to go through with it. Had she not,
she asked me, prevailed upon Edward to leave his old dwelling, and take
a pretty little cottage for me in P--rk V--ll--ge, R--g--nt’s P--rk, so
that she might always be near to me and him. And she assured me, in a
gentle way, that I need not be alarmed, on account of my youthful
inexperience, as she would make it a duty to superintend all my domestic
arrangements until I got in the way of managing them myself; which, with
my natural abilities, she fondly said, would not take me long. And she
further told me that, as a start in life, she had a little surprise for
me; for she had determined, that in addition to some of her best pickles
and preserves, with which she intended to stock my store-room, before my
return from the honeymoon, she purposed presenting me with two bottles
of her celebrated cherry brandy, which she declared she would not have
parted with to any one but her own flesh and blood--although her friends
were always welcome to come and taste it whenever they pleased--that she
alone knew the true way of making it--and that she was determined the
secret should die with her. And, moreover, she said, that as, after the
advice she had given me over-night, I could easily perceive how
necessary it was for a young wife to have proper people about her, she
would kindly relieve me of any anxiety I might feel in suiting myself
with my first servant, by finding me, during my short absence from town,
such a one as she, from her knowledge of these matters, would answer for
proving quite a treasure. I thanked her with only a sorry smile, being
at such a time unable to appreciate her goodness, for my thoughts were
far--far away.
At a little after 10, the two Misses B--yl--s, whom I had selected for
my bridemaids, and who are carriage people, drove up to the door in
their papa’s sweet little pony phaeton. Having taken off their cloaks,
and changed their bonnets for the white chip ones they had brought with
them in a band-box, they looked truly charming; for they are dear, good,
showy girls, and were dressed in some elegant robes of book muslin,
trimmed with peach-blossom, and carry themselves divinely.
When Edward arrived, I thought I never saw him look better. His hair had
been beautifully curled, and he wore the blue coat, and the white
trousers of plighted affection; and when he presented me with a charming
bouquet, for the first time in my life, I felt the language of flowers.
My father had bespoken two handsome carriages for the festive day; and
when we arrived at the church, I really thought, as we moved in
procession along the pews, that my limbs would have given way under me,
and that I should have dropped in the aisle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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