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THE GIRL’S OIVN PAPER.
SOCIAL EVENTS IN A GIRL’S LIFE.
PART VI.
LITERARY DINNERS.
F course, I have been to
a good many by; now,
for they are muc more
common than they used
to be; but I looked on
my first invitation with
mingled awe and de-
light, and felt it was a
step up the ladder of
fame.
None but “women ”
writers were invited,
which seemed to ' be
another feather in my cap, for it
hetokencd that I was recognised
as one, and gave me :1 pleasant
sense of importance. The dinner
took place at one of the large public rooms
set aside for the purpose, and as we ascended
the public staircase ‘we heard a girl whisper
to her companion in an awe-struck tone,
“ Those are women-writers! ” . '
My head was held quite an inch higher
after this, though there may be a doubt as to
Whether the remark were complimentary or the
reverse. I
A good deal of this awe has melted away
by now, for everybody WfllCS.lIl these days,
though they forget that every idea that comes
into their heads may not be worth writing
down. '
The waiter stationed at the head of the
stairs evidently thought that it would not be
polite to call us “women,” the grand old
title that one hears too seldom nowadays, so
he kept repeating, “This way for the lady-
writers’ dinner! ” which made us laugh and
everyone else stare, till we felt more like a
travelling circus than ever.
First we were shown to a room where we
laid aside our wraps and, then to a reception-
room, where we were received by the chair-
woman and committee, who welcomed us and
pointed to a table where lay various sprays of
flowers. These were made up ready to attach
to our dresses, and we were each expected to
take one, a delicate, womanly touch, which at
once robbed the assembly of its official and
formal character.
Creeping into,a comer I sat and watched
the company assemble, and thrilled with
pleasure as I saw the faces of many whohad
made me laugh or cry.
‘Va each had given us a plan of the tables,
so thatwe knew exactly where we were to
sit and the names of all present, but I greatly
wished the guests were labels, so that one
might know exactly who each lady was.
At length we were all assembled and a
general move was made to the dining-room
next door, the chair-woman and committee
leading the way, but otherwise no precedence
being observed.
The table, in the shape of a horse-shoe,
looked charming, and, as name-cards were
put on each plate, we had no difficulty in
finding our places, and soon settled down.
It soon struck me as incongruous that we
were waited on by men. It was hardly con-
sistent considering we rigidly excluded them
from the table, but this was almost the only
mistake(ifmistake it could be called , and was
simply a matter of opinion. Besides, in a
public institution, 'ou must avail yourself of
the services provi ed, and cannot altcr it to
suit your own tastes and fancies.
The menus had been designed by one Ofthe
guests, and bore on the front a Greek girl
Ilv LA PETITE.
reclining gracefully on a couch. with :1 book
and a lamp before her, holding out a cham-
pagne glass to be filled. It was charmingly
retty; but. as one of those present observed,
it was hardly a fair representation of the life
ofa woman-writer, for though indeed she may
“bum the midnight oil,” she has but little
leisure to lie on sofas, and none at all to drink
champagne !
As I looked round I realised more than
ever what a mistake it was to suppose that
cleverness must needs be allied to dowdiness of
dress, or that busy women had no time to take
a proper interest in their clothes. Each one
of us was dressed as befittcd the occasion with
a due regard to fashion, though not a slavish
surrender to it, and we all seemed to have laid
to heart Shakespeare's injunction--
“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not
S,’ U(
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,”
and woman!
The dinner passed off like most dinners,
and it was only towards its close that it
differed at all from others. 'tVhen the dessert
was reached the waiters were banished, and
we felt that the real business of the evening
was about to commence. Lighted candles
were placed at intervals down the table, coffee
was served and cigarette-boxes produced.
Not many of us smoked though, but I took
a cigarette as a souvenir, and was assured, on
masculine authority next day, that it was a
very bad one.
Then the chair-woman rose and gave the
toast of the first woman in the land, “The
Queen," and, after that, we listened to several
speeches upholding the importance of our
profession and pointing out that, as our pros-
pects improved and our influence increased so
also should our sense of responsibility, and
that we should aim high, so that others might
be the better for what we wrote.
I noticed with amusement that the waiters
peeped cautiously from behind the screens
during the speech-making, as it was then
rather a novelty to hear a woman speak ; but
they were visib y impressed by the good sense
and capability of what they heard, and the
spirit of scornful curiosity with which they
entered soon changed to one of attentive
approval.
This ended the formal part of the proceed-
ings. .
IVe listened to a charming song or two
from a pretty girl, and then, acting on the
suggestion of the chair-woman, moved freely
about, chatting with those we knew, and
being introduced to those we did not know,‘
so that what with the “feast of reason and
the flow of soul,” the evening was gone before
we realised it. .
The husbands, fathers and brothers were
waiting meekly in the ante-room to escort
their respective belongings home, which I
thought inconsistent, for if we were indepen-
dent cnough to come alone and eat alone, we
might surely have gone home alone.
VVe parted with regret, promising to meet
again next year. This we did, and from these
dinners I trace many pleasant and helpful
friendships.
As time went on too the small ccccntricities,
which our best friends might deplore as giving
our enemies opportunities of scofling, were
softened down and we became less aggressive,
so to speak. Of course coplc said unkind
things, as they always db if they get the
chance. For instance, our menus one year
had etched on them (by the same hand as
before) the Greek girl again holding out a
handful of food towards an exceptionally
solemn-looking owl, Minerva’s bird, as every-
one knows, who looked rather disdainfully
over her head. This was quoted as a sign
that we tried in vain to lure wisdom to our
side, but we paid no heed, and are now, I
think, firmly established.
Last year, being our beloved Queen’s
jubilee, our banquet ‘W215 of course very
specially brilliant and loyal. The committee
wore white bows with pens, and their chairs
were draped with broad red, white and blue
sashes, and our name-cards had attached to
them red, white and blue narrow baby-ribbon
with a wee silver safety-pin run through it.
This led to one of my secret ambitions being
realised, for our chair-woman (:1 novelist whose
books are widely read and highly thought of)
suggested our each pinning our name-card to
our dress so that everyone would be labelled.
This was done amid much laughter, but I
turned the blank side of mine outwards, feel-
ing that no one would be huming to know
my name, and if they were they would not be
much enlightened when they saw it.
Our numbers had increased from the sixty
who had assembled on the first occasion I
spoke of so that we had to have a larger
room; but we no longer banished‘ the waiters
when we began speechifying, for we had got
over our self-consciousness and took it all
more as a matter of course.
Altogether it was the most successful
gathering we had ever had, and was tho-
roughly enjoyable.
I felt very uplifted the first time I went as
a guest to a mixed literary dinner, by which I
mean a‘ male literary club which has ladies’
guest nights.
The dinner took place the evening of the
day when we went to the Jubilee drawing-
room, and those of you who have read that
paper can imagine how tired we were ; but all
the‘ same how we enjoyed it, and what :1
fitting conclusion it made to a memorable day.
Of course it was more ceremoniou than the
others, and a regular wire’: was held after-
wards.
It was wonderfully interesting to note the
faces of men whose books we had read and
enjoyed, and, although obliged to admit that
sometimes my ideal pictures of them were
rather ruthlessly destroyed, still, on the whole,
they were not so disappointing-as-one might
expect.
It was leasant too to notice that my
sex held t eir own very creditably in the
matter of speech-making, and were listened to
with marked attention.
The hall in which we dined was very stately
and handsome, and we all sat at separate
tables, large or small, according to the size of
our arty.
T e proceedings were agreeably diversified
by songs, but for the rest there was so much
to see and hear that any other amusement
seemed superfluous.
Ladies and gcntlemcnleft the table together,
of course, when the time arrived for the sot‘;-Je
(which was held in an adjoining room), but
many lingered as if loth to break up aha ipy
arty, and those in the balcony, as 't iey
ookcd down on the gay crowd, must have
had an impression of a moving tableau, so-
bright and animated was the scene. But all
must come to an end in time, and so did m
last literary dinner, taking its place at lcngti
with the other social events oft e past.
( To be cantinmd.)
