_Letter from Mrs. Wm. H. Makeway to Lady Glenwill, of London._

Thursday.

My Darling Tina:

It is over, and my dear, I'm dead! Only--_such_ a success! Surpassed my
wildest dreams! If you had _only_ been here. In the first place every
one of any consequence in New York came; except, of course, those who
are in mourning. There are certain people who have always held off from
me, you know; but they've come around at last, and were all in evidence
last night and in their best clothes, and _all_ their jewels, and you
know that always speaks well for the hostess. I wore my tiara that Will
so generously gave me my last birthday (of course he hates it himself,
but I brought it home, and he had to give in--the Dear!). My wedding
necklace, three strings of real pearls, and one string of those
"Orient" things we bought on Bond St.--no one could ever tell the
difference except Will, who makes a fuss every time I wear them. He
swears he will give me a new real string if I put them on again, but I
tell him we must economize now to make up for what the party cost. My
dress was charming. Grace Nott brought it over from Pacquin for her
mother, and meanwhile this cruel indecent new tariff came on! Get down
on your knees, my dear, and be grateful you don't live in this wretched
country which is being turned into one great picnicking ground for the
working classes. The custom house wanted to make Grace pay an awful
duty, and then, fortunately for me, but of course it was terrible for
them, something in Wall Street went up instead of down, or vice versa
(I never can understand those things), and the poor Notts went to
smash. The dress was to be left in the custom house. When I heard about
it I bought it, duties and all. My dear girl, it fitted me like a
dream. Did you ever hear anything like it? Of course, Mrs. Nott never
could have squeezed herself into it, so it's just as well she didn't
try! It is the new color, and made in the very latest way--in fact, the
coming spring mode. I really think Will's description is the best. I'll
try to quote it to you: "It begins at the top--_i.e._ decidedly below
the shoulders--to be one kind of a dress, changes its mind somewhere
midway, and ends out another sort altogether. One side starts off in
one direction, but comes to grief and a big jewel, somewhere in the
back. The other side, taking warning, starts off in an absolutely
different way, color, and effect, and explodes at the waist under the