INTRODUCED TO THE WORLD.
About three months after I left school for good I received an invitation
to go up to London and stay for a month with Ada Desborough. This was a
great event. Ada told me that her mother was going to give a grand ball,
at which she was to come out, and that I should be formally introduced
to the world upon the same occasion; and she remarked that she flattered
herself that society in general ought to rejoice at the advent of two
such charming votaries at its shrine. She added, in a postscript, that
her brother Percy would be at home on leave.
I was, of course, delighted at the prospect of a month of real London
life, with its balls and operas, and looked forward to my visit as if
going into fairy-land. Mr. Harmer, when he heard of my invitation, made
me a very handsome present to buy myself dresses fitted for the
occasion. I had, therefore, a fortnight of excitement and preparation,
as my morning and walking dresses were made at Canterbury; but my
ball-dresses were ordered of a London dressmaker, as mamma thought that
Canterbury fashions would not do for me at Lady Desborough's.
At last all was ready, and I started for town. Papa put me in charge of
a lady of his acquaintance, who was also going to London, and then said
good-bye, with many comic injunctions as to my behaviour in good
society.
Nothing particular happened on our journey to London, and when I got out
at the station, a tall footman, whose face I remembered, came up and
touched his hat, and asked what luggage I had.
Lady Desborough had sent her carriage to meet me, and I began to realize
the fact that I had all at once become a young woman.
I felt a little flurried when we drew up at the house in Eaton Square,
and the tall footman knocked at the door, in a way I thought
unnecessarily loud and important.
However, I soon felt at home when Ada came flying downstairs into the
hall, and kissed me as warmly as she had done three months before when
we parted at Miss Pilgrim's.
"Come along, Agnes, dear; never mind your things; they will be all
brought up safe. Your room is next to mine, with a door between, so we
shall be able to talk as much as we like. Mamma is not very well, and is
lying down, and you will not see her till dinner-time, so I have got you
all to myself for three hours. There, that is your room, and this is
mine."
Very snug and comfortable they looked, with two large fires blazing in
the grates, which gave a cosy look to the rooms, and caused me to forget
the unusual grandeur of the furniture; for I should, I think, have
otherwise felt not a little awe-struck, it was all so very different
from my quiet old-fashioned low-ceiled room, with its white hangings,
down in Canterbury.
However, I had no time to notice much then, for Ada, in her impulsive
way, was already occupied in taking off my wraps; this done, she again
kissed me, and then made me seat myself in a chair in front of the fire,
while she nestled down on a low stool beside me.
"There, Agnes, now you will get warm again. Do you know you are looking
very well after your journey, and are certainly even prettier than when
I saw you last. I begin to think I was very foolish to have you here at
all: you will quite eclipse poor little me."
I laughed at the nonsense she was talking, for Ada was one of the
loveliest girls I ever saw, and I--well, I believe I was pretty, but
certainly nothing to compare to Ada. We chatted merrily over old times,
and then Ada gave me the list of our engagements, which quite frightened
me, at the number of titled people I was going to visit. At last it was
time to get ready for dinner; so I went into my own room, where I found
Ada's maid had already unpacked my boxes, and put all my things away
ready for use into the drawers and wardrobes. I was therefore able to
take my time dressing, talking to Ada the while through the open door.
When we went down into the drawing-room ready for dinner, we found Percy
sitting reading by the light of the bright fire. He must have heard the
rustle of our dresses as we entered, but he continued reading to the
last moment; then closing his book, reluctantly as it were, rose to
speak to us. As he did so he gave quite a start; he had evidently
expected to meet the schoolgirl he had seen nearly two years before,
looking demure and half frightened at his mamma's presence, and I
certainly felt flattered at the evident surprise and admiration his face
expressed when his eyes fell upon me. It was my first effect, and I
could not help colouring up and feeling gratified.
"I need not say how do you do, Miss Ashleigh," he said, coming forward
to shake hands with me. "Your looks speak for themselves. I should
hardly have known you; how you have grown, and how very pretty you have
become."
I coloured high in laughing confusion, and Ada said, coming to my
relief, "Really, Percy, how sadly _gauche_ and unpolished you are in
your way of paying compliments: the idea of telling a young lady just
come out, that she has grown very pretty; just the sort of thing you
might have said to a little child, or a milkmaid. You might have
conveyed the idea, which in itself is true and unexceptionable, in some
delicate way in which it would have been acceptable. Grown pretty,
indeed! You never had much manners, Percy, but the Lancers certainly
have not improved you."
"I really beg your pardon, Miss Ashleigh," he said, colouring almost as
much as I had done, "but I felt so much surprised for a moment at the
change in you, that I was obliged to express myself in the most
straightforward way: had what I said been less true, I should have put
it into some different form."
"That is better, Percy," Ada said, approvingly.
"Agnes, make one of your best Grendon House curtsies."
I swept to the ground in a deep reverence, and then having quite
recovered my confusion by seeing Percy embarrassed by Ada's attack, I
was able to take my own part in the conversation; and--accustomed as I
was to wordy skirmishes with papa and Harry--with Ada on my side, we
soon completely silenced Percy, who, indeed, in a war of words, was no
match for either of us alone.
Percy Desborough was, in my opinion, a handsome man; and yet, perhaps,
as I am prejudiced in his favour, my opinion may not be worth much, and
I do not think girls in general would have thought him so. He was now
nearly twenty-three, about middle height, rather slight, with a lithe,
sinewy figure: very upright. His brown hair was brushed back with a wave
from his forehead, for in the year of grace, 1848, young men had not
taken to cutting their hair like convicts, or charity boys. He had a
thoughtful and yet a quick eye, a firm, resolute mouth, and a white and
thin, but very nervous hand. He looked a soldier every inch, of the type
of which our Indian heroes are made; thoughtful, studious men, with warm
hearts, and iron resolutions, with manners quiet and gentle, but with
the fiery courage of a Bayard. He was as far removed from the ordinary
drawing-room soldier as can well be; men who, doubtless, when necessity
comes, are, as every English gentleman must be, brave as far as personal
courage goes, but who care little for their military duties, contenting
themselves with going through the daily routine, reserving all their
best energies for the evening. Men with a rather supercilious smile, and
languid air, with a great flow of small talk and compliments: men much
given to stroking their moustache and whiskers, and with an amazing idea
of their own powers of fascination; not, indeed, that I blame them for
that, for we girls do make such fools of them, that it is no wonder they
should consider that as far as we are concerned they are invincible.
Percy was, on the other hand, almost shy with women, and was very
studious, especially in all matters relating to his profession. He
expected, Ada told me, to embark for India with his regiment in about a
year's time, and he was working very hard at Hindostanee and the other
Eastern languages, in order to qualify himself for a staff appointment.
Lady Desborough presently came down. She was extremely gracious and
cordial, and, although it was not more than six months since she had
seen me, she assured me that I had very much improved, especially in
figure and carriage,--the points, she observed, in which young girls
generally fail; and she said she should be quite proud of two such
belles as Ada and myself to introduce into society.
We dined earlier than usual, and did not sit so long at the table. This
was a great relief to me, as I hardly felt enough at home to have quite
recovered from my old sense of oppression at the extreme stateliness of
the meal. The reason for this change was, that we were going to the
opera in the evening. We had dressed for it before dinner, so that there
was no time lost, and we entered Lady Desborough's box a little before
the overture began. Lady Desborough insisted on us girls taking the
front seats. She sat between us, but rather farther back, while Percy
stood sometimes behind Ada, sometimes behind me.
While the overture was going on, Ada told me to look down upon the sea
of heads below. It was wonderful, but yet a little confusing, there were
so many men looking up with opera-glasses, and a great many of them
seemed gazing right into our box.
"How very rude they are, Ada!"
Ada laughed. She had often been there before, and was accustomed to it.
"My dear, it is the greatest possible compliment to us. All these
lorgnettes turned to our box proclaim us indisputable belles. Men would
not take the trouble to look at us if we were not pretty. There, child,
don't colour up so; the only way is to look perfectly indifferent, as if
you were quite unconscious of it."
It was easy advice to give, and I followed it to the best of my power;
but I felt very hot and uncomfortable till the curtain drew up, and then
I was too entirely absorbed in the music to have noticed it, even if the
whole house had been looking at me.
It was to me an evening of enchantment. The opera was "Lucrezia Borgia,"
with Alboni as Orsini, and I had never before conceived it possible that
the human voice was capable of producing such exquisite full liquid
notes as those which poured from her, seemingly without the slightest
effort. It was marvellous, and I was literally enchanted; and even
between the acts I did not recover sufficiently from the effect it
produced on me to listen to Ada, who wanted to talk, and tell me who
every one was in the different boxes.
When we reached home, Lady Desborough said it was quite a treat going
with any one who enjoyed herself as thoroughly as I did. The first time
Ada went she did not seem to care in the least about the music, and only
occupied herself in asking who all the people were.
The next day we went for a drive in the park, and I was quite astonished
and delighted at the number and beauty of the carriages and horses; for
in our walks at school, we had only kept in the secluded parts of the
park and gardens, and had never been allowed to go near the fashionable
quarters. It was quite a new pleasure to me. But whatever I felt, I knew
it was right and proper to sit quite still, and to look passive and
quiet as Ada did, especially as numbers of ladies in carriages bowed to
Lady Desborough, and men on horseback lifted their hats, or sometimes
rode up to the carriage and spoke. Ada knew most of them by name, but
very few to speak to, as her mamma had not been in the habit of taking
her out to drive with her, or of introducing her to any one, as she was
not yet out. But now as we were to appear the next evening in public,
Lady Desborough introduced several of the gentlemen to us, and some of
them rode for a little way by the side of the carriage, talking to her
ladyship, and sometimes exchanging a few words with Ada and myself. That
evening we were a quiet little party, and after Ada and I had played
some of our old school duets together, we went to bed quite early, in
order to be fresh for the next day's fatigues.
What an exciting day that was! Early in the morning Gunter's men came
and took possession of the dining-room, turning it completely upside
down. A large cartload of benches and tressels came at the same time,
and they took the dining-table away, and erected a large horse-shoe
table in its place. In the mean time the upholsterer's men were hard at
work in the drawing-room. First they removed all the furniture from it;
then they took out the window-sashes, and erected a most lovely little
tent over the whole balcony, lined with white and blue muslin, and
furnished with couches, forming a most charming place to go out into
between the dances. Having done this, they stretched a drugget over both
drawing-rooms, and placed forms round the room. As soon as they were
gone, Ada and I came into it, and performed a waltz on the drugget,
which was pronounced stretched to perfection. About this time Percy
arrived from Covent Garden, where he had been to see that the flowers
which had been previously ordered were coming. Scarcely had he arrived
when two carts drove up to the door full of them. We thereupon formed
ourselves into a council of taste, and the flowers were distributed
under our supervision in the hall, in the room behind the
dining-room--which was to be for tea and ices--on the landings of the
staircase, and in the grates of the drawing-rooms. The conservatory had
been filled the day before, and a perfumed fountain from Rimmel's,
placed there to play during the evening. When all was done, we
pronounced the effect to be charming. Lady Desborough, at Ada's request,
came down from her room, where she had been all the morning, to inspect
the arrangements, which she pronounced exceedingly good. Indeed it
looked extremely well, for the drawing-rooms, which were very large and
handsome, had been repapered specially for the occasion, Lady Desborough
being determined that nothing should be wanting, and their effect, with
the pretty tent outside, and the large boudoir opening from the farther
end, was really lovely. When she had inspected everything, she said that
she particularly wished us to lie down for a time in the afternoon, and
to get a short sleep if possible, if not to take a book, but at all
events to keep quiet, in order that we might be fresh in the evening.
This advice we of course had to follow, but it was very unpalatable to
us both, as we were girls enough to enjoy all the bustle immensely;
still there was no help for it; and so we went up to our rooms, where
lunch, by Lady Desborough's orders, was brought up to us. After that we
lay down, but I don't think either of us closed our eyes. I am sure I
was far too excited at the thought of the evening before me. Presently
Ada came into my room, and said that lying down was out of the question,
so we wheeled two easy chairs before the fire, and sat there and chatted
quietly.
By six o'clock the supper was all laid, under the superintendence of
Gunter's managing man himself, and the effect, when we went in to see it
on our way down to dinner in the back dining-room, was certainly superb.
Even Lady Desborough condescended to express her conviction to Gunter's
managing man, that nothing could be better.
After this, the house subsided into quiet, and soon after seven we went
up to dress. We had thus nearly three hours before us, as it was quite
certain no one would come before ten; and I confess I did not see how we
could possibly occupy all that, and was half inclined to side with Percy
in his remarks as to the absurdity of our being so long at our toilet.
However, Ada paid no attention to what he said, and, of course, I went
up-stairs with her. It was very pleasant up there, and we chatted a long
time, sitting before Ada's fire, before we made any signs of beginning
to dress.
Presently a knock at the door interrupted us, and we were told that the
hairdresser was below.
"I will go down first, Agnes; you get on with your dressing. I shall not
be twenty minutes at most."
While I was dressing a small parcel was brought up, which had been left
at the door for me. It contained a note and a small jewel-box. The note
was from Messrs. Hunt and Roskell, saying, "That they had received
orders from Mr. Harmer, of Canterbury, to send me a cross, the choice of
which he had left with them, and a small chain to suspend it round my
neck. That they trusted the jewel would give me satisfaction; but that,
if I wished, they would exchange it for any other in their shop, if I
would favour them with a call." The contents of the case were a small
cross, composed entirely of very large diamonds, of the value of which I
had no idea, but which looked very lovely, and a small chain to hang it
round my neck. I said nothing to Ada, although the door was open, as I
wished to surprise her.
Ada's maid seemed a long time to me putting the finishing touches to my
dress; for I was not accustomed to all these little minutiae; but at last
it was done, and I turned round to go into Ada's room--she having been
dressed by Lady Desborough's own maid--when she came into the room to
me, and as she did so we uttered an exclamation of mutual admiration.
Ada certainly looked lovely; she was dressed in white silk, with white
tulle over it, which was looped up with scarlet flowers, and she had a
wreath of the same, with green leaves in her dark hair; round her neck
was a beautiful necklace of pearls of great value, which was, I believe,
a family heirloom.
My dress, like hers, was of white silk, with a skirt of lovely Brussels
lace, a present from Mr. Harmer, over it. This was slightly looped up
with blue forget-me-nots, and I had a wreath of the same flowers in my
hair.
"Oh Agnes," Ada exclaimed, after our first burst of mutual
congratulations was over, "Oh, Agnes, what a lovely diamond cross; where
did you get it from? you never showed it me before."
I explained to her the manner in which I had just received it.
"Well, Agnes, that Mr. Harmer of yours is a trump, as Percy would say.
What a beautiful thing. Have you any idea of the value of it?"
I knew nothing of the value of diamonds, and suggested twenty pounds.
"Twenty pounds, you silly child," Ada said; "you don't deserve to have
presents made you. If I know anything of diamonds, it is worth two
hundred."
"You don't mean that, Ada," I exclaimed, quite frightened at the idea of
carrying such a valuable thing round my neck; "you are only laughing at
me."
"I can assure you I am in earnest, Agnes; they are quite worth that;
they are splendid diamonds, and the cross looks quite a blaze of light
on your neck."
We were down stairs by a quarter to ten. Percy was already there, and
paid us both many nonsensical compliments. Lady Desborough soon came
down, and also expressed herself highly pleased with our appearance. She
fully endorsed what Ada had said as to the value of the cross, and said
that it was worth more than Ada had put it at, perhaps nearly twice as
much.
"Now," she said, when Percy had gone out of the room to fetch something
he had forgotten, "I wish to give you a last piece of advice. I give it
to you, Miss Ashleigh, as much as I do to Ada, for as you come out under
my charge, I consider myself as responsible for you equally. To you,
Ada, I say be very careful you do not let your high spirits run away
with you; above all, do not become noisy: I know well what your tendency
is. This does not apply to you, Miss Ashleigh, for although you have
good spirits, I know you are not likely to let them run away with you as
Ada is. Do not either of you, I beg, dance more than once, or at most
twice with any gentleman. This applies equally to you, Miss Ashleigh, as
the heiress to a considerable fortune. It is incumbent on you both to be
very careful with whom you dance,--I mean, dance frequently: there is
nothing more damaging to a girl than that her name should be mentioned
as seen flirting with any but a most eligible party; and as at present
you do not know who is who, you cannot be too careful."
Here Percy's return interrupted any further advice which Lady Desborough
might have been disposed to have tendered us; and in a few minutes the
visitors began to arrive, and my first ball began.
I may here mention, with reference to Lady Desborough's remark about my
being an heiress, that Clara Fairthorne had brought the news to school,
when Mr. Harmer's intentions with respect to us were publicly announced,
and from that time we were generally known there by the nickname of the
"heiresses."