Twentieth Century Culture and Deportment / Or the Lady and Gentleman at Home and Abroad; Containing Rules of Etiquette for All Occasions, Including Calls; Invitations; Parties; Weddings; Receptions; Dinners and Teas; Etiquette of the Street; Public Places, Etc., Etc. Forming a Complete Guide to Self-Culture; the Art of Dressing Well; Conversation; Courtship; Etiquette for Children; Letter-Writing; Artistic Home and Interior Decorations, Etc.

by Maud C. Cooke

Notes of Request or Refusal

are frequently necessary, but care should be taken neither to make an unreasonable request, nor to return an unjustifiable refusal. Should denial seem imperative, strive to imitate that English statesman who could refuse more gracefully than others could grant. The following examples will suffice:

Dear Mrs. Winterblossom:

You remember the little picture, a Sunset View, that I admired so much the other evening at your home? Would you have any objection to lending it to me for a copy?

Should you have even a shadow of dislike toward my proposition, do not hesitate to refuse at once. So many people are averse, and justly so, to having their paintings duplicated that I feel my request almost an impertinence.

Believe me, truly yours,
Edith Granger.

Refusal to the same:

My dear Miss Granger:

I dread to answer your note, since it must be a refusal of your request, for the little painting is the property of a friend of mine, who has left it, together with a few others, in my care during her tour in Europe. The fact that she has a morbid dislike to having duplicate copies made of her pictures, forces me to deny a request that, were the painting in question mine, I would gladly grant.

Sincerely your friend,
Helen Winterblossom.