'Up the Country': Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of IndiaEden, Emily
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'Up the Country': Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India
Eden, Emily
Eden, Emily, 1797-1869 -- Correspondence; India -- Description and travel
We had our tableaux last night, and they were really beautiful. I am
quite sorry they are over. We had each of them three times over, but
still it is like looking at a very fine picture for two minutes and then
seeing it torn up. Mrs. K. as Queen Elizabeth, dragging in Mrs. N. as
Amy Robsart, was one of the best; and Medora lying dead, and the Corsair
in his 'helpless, hopeless brokenness of heart,' was also beautiful, but
in fact they all were so, and G. is walking up and down his room this
morning, wishing they would be so good as to do it all over again. The
enthusiasm of the audience was unbounded. C. recitatived Lord Byron's
words for the Corsair, but wrote songs for Kenilworth; the last,
alluding to Amy's death, 'He comes too late,' was worthy of Mrs.
Arkwright. After the tableaux were over, W. O. gave his first
entertainment, a small supper, to Mrs. K., Mrs. L., Mrs. V., Mrs. N.,
and all the aides-de-camp and one or two gentlemen, and, as the ladies
would not go unless F. and I were there, we went down to his bungalow at
eleven, leaving G. to see our guests out. W.'s supper went off
remarkably well, and his house looked very pretty. St. Cloup thought he
had better give a look at the supper, and when I told him we were going,
he said, 'Oh! alors il faut que M. le Capitaine fasse un peu de dépense.
Je vais pourvoir à tout cela.' The dresses were magnificent last night,
and W. O. looked very well in his corsair's dress. Mrs. N. is not rich,
so I make an excuse of her kindness in acting to send her a green satin
pelisse, as Amy's 'sea-green mantle,' and a very handsome lace dress
with a satin slip from G.
Monday, June 3.
G. has had letters from the army up to May 7. The Shah seems to be as
quietly and comfortably settled as if he had never left his kingdom, and
Sir J. Keane writes most cheerfully about the army, makes very light of
the loss of cattle, and says the soldiers were never so healthy. There
has been on an average one-third fewer in hospital than is usual in
cantonments, and very few deaths.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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