As for toilet, those were not the mornings of cold
baths. With our ancestors a little washing went a long way."
"Do you still live so in Virginia?" asked Madeleine.
"Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people,
and try to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They
lived from hand to mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The
young men were always riding about the country, betting on
horse-races, gambling, drinking, fighting, and making love. No one
knew exactly what he was worth until the crash came about fifty
years ago, and the whole thing ran out."
"Just what happened in Ireland!" said Lord Dunbeg, much
interested and full of his article in the Quarterly; "the resemblance
is perfect, even down to the houses."
Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the
destruction of this old social arrangement.
"One can't help regretting," said he, "whatever it was that produced
George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I
think we might produce the men still if we had the same field for
them."
"And would you bring the old society back again if you could?"
asked she.
"What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself
could not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia,
and his power was gone."
The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone
in the great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker
entered, with her child, who ran about making more noise than
Mrs.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107