This tickled my fancy so much that I doubt if I should ever have stopped laughing if Belinda Ann had not shown signs of temper by remarking huffily, “In coorse I knows as ’ow toffs don’t manage it that wy; but yer arsked me about it, an’ it ain’t bad fer all that.”
“I think it’s a perfectly charming plan,” I put in hastily, smothering my mirth as well as I could; but I nearly went off again at the reflection that the innocent remark, “Can I get you a chair?” would be construed by an East End beauty into a proposal of marriage.
Belinda Ann did not quite recover her good humour till we arrived at the bride’s mansion, which fortunately was not far off, for once there her smiles returned in full force, and she quite forgot my ill-timed merriment.
We stepped straight from the court into the banqueting-hall, without even the formality of a doorstep, and the bride received us in person, her mother being busy in the back premises over her toilette.
The heroine of the occasion was of such colossal proportions she might almost have gone about in a show, and her complexion matched her gown, which was of a warm brickdusty red.
This was not, however, the wedding garment, for, after having greeted us, she disappeared with Belinda Ann and many apologies to reappear later on in a really elegant grey silk, presented by Miss H. and her sister in fulfilment of a very old promise.
She had rather spoilt the effect by hanging round her neck a string of iridescent beads, so large that they looked like homœopathic globules, and wearing the inevitable befeathered hat, this time of a crude violet hue; but otherwise she was all that could be desired, and was immensely admired.
Belinda Ann had added to her attire a huge lace collar and a silver chain, from which hung a locket to match about the size of a small warming-pan, and the party was completed by the bride’s mother, also dressed in an old gown of Miss H.’s.
Now Miss H. being tall and slim, while Mrs. Hogg was of the same generous proportions as her daughter, the dress proved somewhat too scanty, so she had taken some of the material from the waist to eke out the bodice, and to hide this theft had donned a black velvet apron. It looked a little odd, perhaps, but on the whole was pronounced very fair, and we set off for the church. Not on foot, although the edifice was just round the corner. That would, indeed, have been a serious breach of etiquette on such an occasion. No! Two four-wheeled cabs had been chartered for the drive, and into these we packed, the bride, her mother and father (who turned up at the last minute in a fearful state of heat and nervousness) going in the first, and Belinda Ann, Miss H., and I taking the second.
An enthusiastic crowd was hanging round the porch cheering wildly when we alighted, and at first I thought that Miss Hogg must be the most popular girl in the East End; but I was soon undeceived. She was not the only expectant bride of the occasion, for Bank Holiday is a favourite East End wedding-day, for obvious reasons.