Pursuit of an accomplishment does not always mean possession, but where it does, even measurably, it means also the power of imparting pleasure to one’s friends, and pleasure that is touched upon and mingled with one’s own individuality. In a day when wealth counts for so much in relation to the bestowal of pleasure, one can scarcely overestimate for those who do not have wealth the value of the personal touch in the entertainment of one’s friends.
CHAPTER XI
THE DÉBUTANTE
A CLEVER young girl, when asked by an acquaintance if she had “come out” yet, answered, “I didn’t come out. I just leaked out.” Doubtless this states the case, in a somewhat slangy manner, for a large number of young women who, gradually and without any set function to serve as introduction, take their places in society. Even for them, however, the year following the close of school duties marks a change in their relation to the social world, while the distinction is much emphasized in the case of young girls to whom the affairs of balls, receptions, teas and calls are a novelty. The date of a girl’s formal entrance into the larger world marks her individual recognition in that world. Before this time she has been a person without social responsibility, not accountable in the social sense. She has been considered in relation to her family, perhaps. Now she stands for herself. She is an object of some curiosity to the public, and the pleasures and duties to which she falls heir deserve some special mention.
THE AGE OF A DÉBUTANTE
The age at which a girl makes her formal appearance on the scene of society varies in different places and with varying conditions. It is rarely under eighteen, seldom over twenty-two, the first being the age at which a girl not desirous of extended education escapes, usually, from the schoolroom, the second being the average age of graduation for the college girl. A girl younger than eighteen is commonly too immature to be considered an interesting member of society, and a certain degree of absurdity attaches to the idea of introducing to the world a girl older than the age last mentioned.