. The days that are no more, some reminiscences . ittlefamily dinner was to take place, in its entirelyinformal style. Just as the family were aboutto sit down to dinner, two rings at the bellwere heard from the porters lodge. Alllooked at each other, and the question wasasked : Who can that be ? A lady, too ;and were all here ; theres no one missing. Then the much-enduring footman, his kneesknocking together, burst into the room, flungopen the folding doors, and called out thenames of Prince and Princess moment later there was another ring at thebell, then another, guests appe
. The days that are no more, some reminiscences . ittlefamily dinner was to take place, in its entirelyinformal style. Just as the family were aboutto sit down to dinner, two rings at the bellwere heard from the porters lodge. Alllooked at each other, and the question wasasked : Who can that be ? A lady, too ;and were all here ; theres no one missing. Then the much-enduring footman, his kneesknocking together, burst into the room, flungopen the folding doors, and called out thenames of Prince and Princess moment later there was another ring at thebell, then another, guests appeared, name aftername was announced : Prince and PrincessLobkowitz, Prince and Princess Auersperg,Prince and Princess Windisch-Graetz, andso it went on endlessly, Counts and Excel-lencies, and last of all came the names ofPrince and Princess Liechtenstein, the aristo-cratic beauty and splendour of the Princess,glittering with diamonds, adding the crown-ing touch to the universal amazement andconfusion. The master and mistress of the house, the172. COUNT LOUIS TAAFFE Count Taafte other members of the family, and the un-invited guests were completely looked at each other without uttering aword. The visitors, of course, soon realisedthat some inexplicable mistake had been made,and offered their hearty apologies, but CountTaaffe and his wife already suspected, in themidst of all their shame, indignation, andembarrassment, that another rascally trick hadbeen played. The question again presenteditself, how could all these people have beenled astray ? The explanation was that printedinvitation cards for a dinner had been sentout. When some sixty Society people hadreceived these, it was known that a big dinnerwas to be given at Count Taaffes, and all hadappeared in full evening dress. The masterand mistress of the house did their best toexplain the disgraceful business, and the poormystified guests had to withdraw, was no easy matter, what with the orderingo
Size: 1477px × 1691px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookiddaysthataren, bookyear1921
