Novel ways of entertaining / by Florence Hull Winterburn and others.

  • Winterburn, Florence Hull, 1858-
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Novel ways of entertaining / by Florence Hull Winterburn and others. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    talked after the removal of the cloth, and the flippancy of an hour slides away under the fierce competition of interests like oil before flame. But it seems more fitting that these affairs should occur in hotels than in the sacred privacy of the home. There is something indelicate in putting a man at disadvantage by radiant hospi- tality and then fleecing him in a bargain. Hospitality is a gracious privilege, and the woman who so regards it will make the most accomplished hostess. One of her hardest duties is to never allow herself to seem bored. She has to try to see something agreeable and sensible in the most futile remarks, to supply the spark that may kindle dull wits, to be affable and charming when weary or discouraged. After she has invited a guest, perhaps in a moment of mistaken enthusiasm, she dare not show disappointment in him. The tiresome, ill-bred person whom some social change has suddenly made prominent must be recognized and humored, should neces- sity open her door to him. And, although roasted at the fire of her own rashness after bringing incongruous persons to-