“I will see by and by; my servant has taken the list of the best hotels in New York.”
“Did you ever see such toad-eating?” exclaimed one of my companions, as we landed on the wharf and were walking towards Broadway,—“such a compound of arrogance and submissiveness, haughty insolence to an inferior, and cringing flattery towards a greater person than himself, as this man?”
“He certainly behaved very foolishly,” said the second; “the British nobleman did not take the least notice of him.”
“And did you see,” said the first, “how every eye was fixed upon that lady and her daughter, as if they were the eighth wonder of the world?”
“I saw,” replied the other, “that they were embarrassed by attracting so much notice.”
“Did you not understand the captain to say that they brought letters to Mr. A*** and to Mrs. S***?”
“I certainly did.”
“Then they will be the town-talk for a month, and the subject of conversation for six months after, throughout the Union; and whoever is not introduced to them will be considered as vulgar: in short, they will be the fashion throughout the country, until somebody of a still higher rank shall come and eclipse them. Were you in the country when the Duke of Saxe Weimar was here?”
“Yes; but I was not in the habit of going much into society.”