Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/179

Rh life, saw so many matches made, for truly, it was the greatest market that had been seen in many seasons. The first thing asked when a lady came there was, "are there any rich planters or other rich men here," if there are the next saying is, "make me pretty." I will tell you of a circumstance that occurred at this time.

There was a young lady and her aunt, who got acquainted with a middle aged man who dressed very elegantly, went every night to the Theater and Opera, and was called a very rich man; he, however, was but an overseer of the plantation and property of a gentleman who was at that time in France. The young lady and her aunt went to work to win the gentleman, thinking it was a good match, and the gentleman striving to win the young lady, because he thought it would be very agreeable to have the aunt's money, as she was rich; he took them to what he called his plantation, and both aunt and niece thought it a very good market. The young lady came to me and said, "Oh, Iangy, I am engaged to be married, and I want you to devote your time to me for two or three weeks." I told here not to be too fast, as all is not gold that glitters, for I knew the gentleman was not what he seemed to be, but as her mind was made up it was not for me to say more. I myself spent some two hundred dollars buying little things, to say nothing of the aunt spending fifteen hundred dollars for the wedding. They were married, and he took her to the plantation and she enjoyed wealth to her satisfaction for some time: when the real owner of the plantation came home, he had married and brought his bride with him to settle up his affairs. The overseer's wife was very