WALKING, DRIVING, AND RIDING
=The Usual Hours for Walking= in the Park are from 9 until 10.30 a.m.
The hours for afternoon walking and sitting in the Park are from 4 to
7 p.m. during the summer months.
The fashionable hours for walking in the Park on Sunday are from 1
to 2 p.m., both in winter and summer; and from 5 to 7 p.m. in the
summer months.
Married ladies can, if they please, walk out unaccompanied or unattended
in places of public resort in town or on the parades of fashionable
watering-places; but married ladies, especially if they are young,
usually prefer the society of another lady, not so much, perhaps, for
propriety as for companionship, as to walk alone, either in town or at
fashionable watering-places, renders a lady more or less conspicuous,
especially if she is attractive and well dressed.
A young lady can now also walk by herself in the Park for the purpose of
joining her friends and acquaintances, both in the morning and in the
afternoon, but she should not sit alone.
Again, young ladies may walk alone in the fashionable streets, but they
should not loiter when alone at shop-windows as they pass, but walk at a
quick pace from shop to shop, or from street to street.
In the quiet neighbourhoods of towns, suburban towns, and
watering-places, young ladies walk unaccompanied and unattended to
visit their friends residing in the near vicinity of their homes, or to
attend classes, or for the purpose of shopping, etc. Indeed, great
independence is generally accorded in this respect, the line being drawn
at evening hours--that is to say, at walking alone after dusk.
At watering-places, and at all public promenades, it is usual for
gentlemen to join ladies with whom they are acquainted, and to walk with
them for a short time when it is apparent that their company is desired,
but not otherwise.
Ladies and gentlemen, whether related or not, should never walk
arm-in-arm, unless the lady is an elderly one, or an invalid, and
requires this support.
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=Driving.=--From 3 to 6.30 are the received hours for the afternoon
drive during the summer, and from 2.30 to 4.30 during the winter.
The following rules as regards entering and leaving a carriage apply to
a motor-car or an electric brougham as far as the construction, make,
and size of the same render it possible.
When driving in an open or close carriage or motor-car it is quite
immaterial whether the owner occupies the right-hand or the left-hand
seat. The seat she occupies depends upon which side she enters, as the
lady driving with her should enter before her and should seat herself on
the furthest seat.
A visitor should always enter the motor-car or carriage before the
hostess.
When three ladies enter a motor-car or carriage the young unmarried lady
should take the back seat and the two married ladies should occupy the
front seat; this is a matter of courtesy on the part of a young lady due
to married ladies and not strictly demanded by etiquette.
A husband should sit with his back to the horses, or by the side of the
chauffeur in the case of a motor-car, when a lady is driving with his
wife.
A gentleman should be the first to get out of a motor-car or carriage,
with a view to assisting the ladies to do so.
As a rule the hostess should leave the carriage or car after her guest
and not before her, unless it is more convenient to do otherwise.
When a lady is merely calling for an acquaintance to take her for a
drive, she should not descend from her car or carriage for the purpose
of allowing her to enter it before her.
In the afternoon young ladies may drive alone in the public
thoroughfares, unaccompanied by married ladies. It is permissible for a
young lady to drive alone in the Park or in the streets. A married lady
can, as a matter of course, drive unaccompanied.
It would be unconventional were a lady to drive alone with a gentleman
in his motor-car, unless he were nearly related to her, or unless she
were engaged to be married to him.
It is usual for the owner of a carriage to sit with her face to the
horses; when a married lady is driving with her she should sit beside
her. When young ladies are driving with her in addition to the married
lady they should sit with their backs to the horses.
When a lady is driving with her husband, and a young lady accompanies
her, she should not offer the front seat to the young lady, but should
retain it herself, and even should the offer be made, a young lady
should not avail herself of it.
* * * * *
=Riding.=--As regards riding in town, the hours for practice in the Row
are from 8 to 10 a.m. in summer and 9 to 11 a.m. in winter, for
inexperienced riders and beginners; young ladies ride with a
riding-master or with a riding-mistress, or with a relative, as the
case may be.
The hours for riding in the Park range from 9.30 to 10.30 a.m.
It is thoroughly understood that a lady may ride in the Park alone--that
is, unaccompanied or unattended--for the purpose of joining her friends.
It is argued, in these days of woman's emancipation, that no possible
harm or annoyance can arise from the fact of a lady riding unattended,
beyond the always possible chance of an accident.
Although great latitude is now allowed to young ladies with regard to
riding alone, many parents still prefer that their daughters should be
attended by their grooms.
Two ladies frequently ride together, unaccompanied by a gentleman and
unattended by a groom.