Tales and Novels, vol 3 | Page 2

health will at present
permit--I used to see multitudes of silly girls, seemingly all cut out
upon the same pattern, who frequented public places day after day, and
year after year, without any idea farther than that of diverting
themselves, or of obtaining transient admiration. How I have pitied and
despised the giddy creatures, whilst I have observed them playing off
their unmeaning airs, vying with one another in the most obvious, and

consequently the most ridiculous manner, so as to expose themselves
before the very men they would attract: chattering, tittering, and flirting;
full of the present moment, never reflecting upon the future; quite
satisfied if they got a partner at a hall, without ever thinking of a
partner for life! I have often asked myself, what is to become of such
girls when they grow old or ugly, or when the public eye grows tired of
them? If they have large fortunes, it is all very well; they can afford to
divert themselves for a season or two, without doubt; they are sure to
be sought after and followed, not by mere danglers, but by men of
suitable views and pretensions: but nothing to my mind can be more
miserable than the situation of a poor girl, who, after spending not only
the interest, but the solid capital of her small fortune in dress, and
frivolous extravagance, fails in her matrimonial expectations (as many
do merely from not beginning to speculate in time). She finds herself at
five or six-and-thirty a burden to her friends, destitute of the means of
rendering herself independent (for the girls I speak of never think of
learning to play cards), de trop in society, yet obliged to hang upon all
her acquaintance, who wish her in heaven, because she is unqualified to
make the expected return for civilities, having no home, I mean no
establishment, no house, &c. fit for the reception of company of a
certain rank.--My dearest Belinda, may this never be your case!--You
have every possible advantage, my love: no pains have been spared in
your education, and (which is the essential point) I have taken care that
this should be known--so that you have the name of being perfectly
accomplished. You will also have the name of being very fashionable,
if you go much into public, as doubtless you will with Lady
Delacour.--Your own good sense must make you aware, my dear, that
from her ladyship's situation and knowledge of the world, it will always
be proper, upon all subjects of conversation, for her to lead and you to
follow: it would be very unfit for a young girl like you to suffer
yourself to stand in competition with Lady Delacour, whose high
pretensions to wit and beauty are indisputable. I need say no more to
you upon this subject, my dear. Even with your limited experience, you
must have observed how foolish young people offend those who are the
most necessary to their interests, by an imprudent indulgence of their
vanity.

"Lady Delacour has an incomparable taste in dress: consult her, my
dear, and do not, by an ill-judged economy, counteract my
views--apropos, I have no objection to your being presented at court.
You will, of course, have credit with all her ladyship's tradespeople, if
you manage properly. To know how and when to lay out money is
highly commendable, for in some situations, people judge of what one
can afford by what one actually spends.--I know of no law which
compels a young lady to tell what her age or her fortune may be. You
have no occasion for caution yet on one of these points.
"I have covered my old carpet with a handsome green baize, and every
stranger who comes to see me, I observe, takes it for granted that I have
a rich carpet under it. Say every thing that is proper, in your best
manner, for me to Lady Delacour.
"Adieu, my dear Belinda,
"Yours, very sincerely,
"SELINA STANHOPE."

It is sometimes fortunate, that the means which are taken to produce
certain effects upon the mind have a tendency directly opposite to what
is expected. Mrs. Stanhope's perpetual anxiety about her niece's
appearance, manners, and establishment, had completely worn out
Belinda's patience; she had become more insensible to the praises of
her personal charms and accomplishments than young women of her
age usually are, because she had been so much flattered and shown off,
as it is called, by her match-making aunt.--Yet Belinda was fond of
amusement, and had imbibed some of Mrs. Stanhope's prejudices in
favour of rank and fashion. Her taste for literature declined in
proportion to her intercourse with the fashionable world, as she did not
in this society perceive the least use in the knowledge that she had
acquired.