. A belle of the fifties; memoirs of Mrs. Clay of Alabama, covering social and political life in Washington and the South, 1853-66 . thbeing of bright, cherry corded silk, the only differencebetween them being that the modest round-neckedbodice of my little cousin by no means could competewith the noble decollete of the older lady. But, in justiceto the most estimable Mrs. Crittenden, it must be addedthat her neck and shoulders were superbly moulded, and,even in middle age, excited the envy of her less fortunatesisters. Lady Crittenden, as she was often called, accountedfor her contentment in
. A belle of the fifties; memoirs of Mrs. Clay of Alabama, covering social and political life in Washington and the South, 1853-66 . thbeing of bright, cherry corded silk, the only differencebetween them being that the modest round-neckedbodice of my little cousin by no means could competewith the noble decollete of the older lady. But, in justiceto the most estimable Mrs. Crittenden, it must be addedthat her neck and shoulders were superbly moulded, and,even in middle age, excited the envy of her less fortunatesisters. Lady Crittenden, as she was often called, accountedfor her contentment in this wise: I have been marriedthree times, and in each alliance I have got just what Iwanted. My first marriage was for love, and it wasmine as fully as I could wish; my second for money, andHeaven was as good to me in this instance; my third wasfor position, and that, too, is mine. What more couldI ask? What more, indeed! One met dear old Mrs. Crittenden everywhere. Shev/as of the most social disposition, a fact which sometimesaroused the good-natured irony of her distinguishedhusband. I remember an instance in which this was. MRS. J. J. CRITTENDEN of Kentucky SOLONS OF THE CAPITAL 85 demonstrated, at the White House, which greatly amusedme at the time. It was at a dinner party, and SenatorCrittenden, who boasted that he had eaten at the WhiteHouse table with every President since the days ofMonroe, assumed the blase air which everyone who knewhim recognised as a conscious affectation. Now theres Lady Crittenden, he began, noddingin the direction of that smiling personage, in all theglory of a new and becoming gown, and perfectly happyin the glamour of this. And he waved his hand aboutthe room with an air of fatigue and, at the same time, acomprehensiveness that swept in every member, graveor giddy, in the large assemblage. If I had my way,and he sighed as he said it, nothing would give megreater pleasure than to hie me back to the wilds ofdear old Kentucky! Ah! to don my buck
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1904
