Here Mrs. Rutherford found herself at fault. She looked quite puzzled for a moment, and then replied—“But you do not give refreshments to your morning visitors, Mrs. Garrison? That, I am told, is quite out of fashion.”
“And then, too,” continued Mrs. Garrison, not appearing to notice this question, “we necessarily have a very large circle of acquaintance for many of whom we care very little; whereas, you in the country can limit yourselves as much as you please; and society is, with you, on altogether a more free, unceremonious, and friendly footing.”
“But then,” replied Mrs. Rutherford, “country people are, most of them, so vulgar. They know nothing of the forms of society.”
“So much the better. In large circles of society they are necessary, but burdensome; and I expect to enjoy, very much, a more simple, unshackled state of existence. * * * * I had the pleasure of seeing your daughter, I believe, this morning; a charming looking girl.”
“My daughter! O Mrs. Garrison, I am very sorry indeed. She is a wild girl; and her father would indulge her to-day in a strawberrying frolic, so she was dressed accordingly. I am sure she was not fit to be seen.”
“I cannot say how that may be, for my attention was so occupied by her bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and laughing smile, that I did not notice her dress at all. But the most proper dress is always that most befitting the occasion; and she looks to me like a girl of too good sense not to have regard to the fitness of things at all times.”
“Dress is another great trouble in the country, Mrs. Garrison. There is never a good dressmaker to be had. You may have your dress cut, to be sure, after a fashionable pattern; but then it will not have at all the air of a city-made dress.”
“But I thought, Mrs. Rutherford, that exemption from much trouble of dress was another of your country privileges. In town, the tailor and dressmaker are the most important personages, to be sure; since it is not man as God made him, or as he has made himself, but as the tailor makes him, that is chiefly respected by a very large class—and so with woman; but in the country, people are valued for their intrinsic merits—their minds, and their hearts. This is their privilege and distinction.”
“But I think, Mrs. Garrison, that no woman appears well who is not well dressed.”
“If you mean, by being well dressed, dressed with neatness and propriety, I agree with you; but city finery, habitually worn, would seem to me as much out of place on the person of a country lady, as artificial flowers in her bosom.”