The heat and weight of the two dresses had been awful, and as soon as
I could get away, I ran to a dressing room and removed the cambric.
But the pins! There seemed to be thousands of them. Some of the
costumes were beautiful and costly, also. Mrs. Manson, a lovely little
woman of Helena, was "A Comet." Her short dress of blue silk was
studded with gold stars, and to each shoulder was fastened a long,
pointed train of yellow gauze sprinkled with diamond dust. An immense
gold star with a diamond sunburst in the center was above her
forehead, and around her neck was a diamond necklace. Mrs. Palmer,
wife of Colonel Palmer, was "King of Hearts," the foundation a
handsome red silk. Mrs. Spencer advertised the New York Herald; the
whole dress, which was flounced to the waist, was made of the headings
of that paper. Major Blair was recognized by no one as "An American
citizen," in plain evening dress. I could not find Faye at all, and he
was in a simple red domino, too.
I cannot begin to tell you of the many lovely costumes that seemed
most wonderful to me, for you must remember that we were far up in the
Rocky Mountains, five hundred miles from a railroad! I will send you a
copy of the Helena paper that gives an account of the ball, in which
you will read that "Mrs. Rae was inimitable--the best sustained
character in the rooms.
Pages:
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209