Real, formal invitations were to be sent out, printed on a
fold of note-paper, with the blank left for the name, and
"R.S.V.P."--whatever that might mean--in the lower left-hand corner.
There were to be six pieces in the band; dancing was to be from eight to
four, instead of from seven to twelve, as heretofore; and the toilets,
it was further whispered, were to be exceptionally brilliant and
elaborate. Certain it was that dress-making might have been seen in
progress through the windows of any farm-house within ten miles; and at
the Parsonage no less than elsewhere.
Sophie had an exquisite taste in costume, though her ideas, if allowed
full liberty, were apt to produce something too fanciful and eccentric
to be fashionably legitimate. But, let a dress once be made up, and
happy she whose fortune it was to stand before Sophie and be touched
off. Some slight readjustment or addition she would make which no one
else could have thought of, but which would transform merely good or
pretty into unique and charming. Sophie had the masterly simplicity of
genius, but was generally more successful with others than with herself.
As for Cornelia, she knew how she ought to look; but how to effect what
she desired was sometimes beyond her ability.
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