And then the beauteous belle of all the ball-rooms,
Heroine of several winters; clever, cool,
Graciously kind to foreign noblemen,
Seeking a title rôle, lest she remain,
As now, a peerless beauty. Then the bride,
In fair white trailing robes, with orange-blooms,
Priceless ancestral lace, and family pearls,
With blushing, downcast glance and modest mien,
Unthinking vows, “Love, honor, and obey.”
And then the widow in her dainty weeds,