We are more particular nowadays about cleanliness than were those of a
past generation. Charles Lamb, during a whist game, remarked to his
partner:
"Martin, if dirt were trumps, what a hand you'd have!"
* * *
The French aristocrats were not always conspicuously careful in their
personal habits. A visitor to a Parisian _grande dame_ remarked to her
hostess:
"But how dirty your hands are."
The great lady regarded her hands doubtfully, as she replied:
"Oh, do you think so? Why, you ought to see my feet!"