[Illustration: _Lace Shop_]
That truly elegant and costly article of a lady's dress, namely lace,
is brought to the highest perfection in Brussels, which you know is in
Flanders, and in the French provinces in general."
"But we have English lace, papa," said Miss Durnford.
"Certainly, but it is far inferior to the foreign. In Buckinghamshire
and Bedfordshire, great quantities are made annually by the poor
people, who subsist by the sale of this article. I have seen British
lace which has been very handsome, for instance, the black as well as
the white lace gowns belonging to your mother. They will not, however,
stand a comparison with the same article of foreign manufacture."
"Pray, papa," said Theodore, "look at that tall thin old gentleman who
is standing at the