CHAPTER XX 



LADY FOXHUNTERS 



SIR RASPER SMA5HGATE AND MISS COTTONWOOL 



^ HERE is nothing we hate 

 so much as seeing a 

 woman lolUng alone in 

 a carriage with a lap- 

 dog sticking out of the 

 window. It is the pic- 

 ture of deserted dejec- 

 tion — of utter loneliness, 

 friendlessness, and soli- 

 tude. 



Carriages are now so 

 multiplied that riot keep- 

 ing one is the singularity instead of keeping one the 

 wonder. Roads are so good that we can get almost 

 everywhere upon wheels ; and feet and horses — saddle 

 horses at least — are about in equal disuse. We 

 should like to see a return of the number of carriages 

 kept now, and the number that were kept a hundred 

 or even fifty years ago. 



Considering the luxurious inert lives many of our 

 highest aristocracy lead, it is wonderful that they still 

 retain their superiority of appearance, ^^'hat possible 

 exercise can there be in lounging on a soft cushioned, 

 easy hung carriage, for two or three hours in the day, 



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