me about
Colonel ----. But, as you said, he had a wife and other incumbrances;
so the least said about that the better.

Under any circumstance, I think it's a much bigger triumph to give
Helen all New York first, now, simply by our own right, and then this
May we'll take her to an early drawing-room, and see what happens next.
I shall depend upon you, dear, to see that we go to one of the
Princess' drawing-rooms, and don't get palmed off on one of the
Princess Christian's or anything of that sort.

Helen was dressed very simply, of course, and no jewels, but looked so
sweet. Lord ---- was devotion itself all evening. Naturally every one
is on the _qui vive_ for the engagement, but that's all right. They
danced the cotillon together. We had charming favors, not too
extravagant--that's such wretched taste--but things we bought in Venice
last year, and Hungarian things, and some Russian, and a set of tiny
gold things Tiffany got up especially for us.

I had several people down from Buffalo, and mother, of course. I wish
you could have seen her, bless her heart. She had on all her old lace,
and my coiffeur did her hair beautifully. She looked so handsome, and
Will insisted on her dancing a figure of a quadrille with him, and how
graceful and dignified she was. You would have been very proud. I was.
Lots of people asked about her, and some seemed so surprised when they
heard she was my mother. How rude people are; and what did they expect
my mother to be like? After all, do _I_ look like the daughter of a
washerwoman? I think not. We might ask the Grand Duke ----, if we meet
him again at Aix. You know I told Will about my small, timid flirtation
with the Russian, and really he seemed proud of my absurd little
conquest! A convenient husband for some women we know, wouldn't he be?
Ah, but then you see _they_ wouldn't deserve him!

Sherry did my supper. He imported some birds from Austria especially
for it, and invented some dishes of his own. I think it was all right.
People said so, but, of course, you can't believe people. I can vouch
at any rate for the serving of it. It was like magic. We seated _every
one_ at little tables which seemed to come up thro' the floors. They
were everywhere except in the ball-room; that was left clear.

We've built the ball-room since you were over. Will bought the house
next to us (such a sum as they asked when they heard _we_ wanted it!)
and the whole lower floor we made into a ball-ro