Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/393

 371 LADY OF QUALITY I until much later. The State functions reached the zenith of viceregal grandeur under Lord and Lady Curzon. The compatriots of the Vicereine were charmed to reflect that " Mary Leiter ruled over more subjects than Queen Victoria " ; and, if their notion of the status of a Vicereine was unduly exalted, they would at least have been right in believing that she was the queen of functions ' resplendent beyond our Western dreams. Nothing can exceed the social homage which native society pays to the representa- tives of their emperor. The Vicereine has to cultivate the difficult task of making the conversation. Scarcely anyone ventures to address her voluntarily. Her progress through the reception-rooms is truly regal. Public Duties She is called upon to perform numberless public functions, such as the opening of bazaars, visiting the schools and hospitals, and accompanies the Viceroy to various ceremonies. The Vicereine is the official head of the Dufferin Fund for promoting medical aid and trained nursing for women established by Lady Dufferin under the auspices of Queen Victoria. The Cana Hospital at Calcutta, and the various other institutions and agencies at work under the fund, come under her supervision. The Vicereine frequently accompanies her husband on his tours, and often joins his tiger-shooting expeditions, should he be a sportsman. vShe will meet in her journeys many calls upon her sympathy and benevo- lence, for famine, plague and pestilence, alas ! are chronic troubles in India. While resident at Government House during the winter and spring, the Vicereine finds occasional relaxation at the viceregal villa at Barrackpore, charmingly situated on the river, near to Calcutta. At the approach of hot weather the Viceregal Court removes to the palace at Simla, perched high on a crag amongst the hills, " like Noah's Ark on Ararat," as one Vicereine wittily put it. There the season opens with a State ball. A succession of gaieties follow, including the weekly gym- khana^ a noted feature in the gay life at Simla. These have been specially successful during the reign of Lady Minto. The marriage of Lady Violet, celebrated with befitting beauty and splendour at Calcutta, marks the first occasion of a viceregal wedding in India. It was a happy idea, and added to the social popularity of Lady Minto, a Vicereine truly to the manner born. Lady Lansdowne and Lady Elgin should be added to the list of recent Vicereines who, each in her own way, has filled the role of chief lady in our great Indian Empire. Lady Hardinge Lady Hardinge of Penshurst succeeded to that important position in igio. She was the Hon. Winifred Sturt, the daughter of the first Baron Alington, and a bedchamber woman to Queen Alexandra. She left the life of ambassadress at the Court of St. Petersburg with a record for gracious, womanly charm which cannot fail to make her reign a success in India. Hardinge is a name deeply honoured in the history of the country. Viscount Hardinge of Lahore, the grandfather of the new Viceroy, was the hero of the Sikh War, and became Governor- General of India in 184 f. THE HO^TE^S. Con.'iittted from page 2jg, Part 2 No. 2. BALLS AND DANCES By Mrs. HUMPHRY ("Madge") Invitations, when they should be Sent Out and How Worded — When to Give a Dance and How to Arrange for the Catering — The Master of Ceremonies and His Duties by oblivion, together with many other ex- pressions belonging to the Victorian era. The form of invitation to a dance is cs follows : LADY SEPIA requests the pleasure of 's The length of invitation for a ball or dance is no longer strictly laid down, as vas once the case. London hostesses some- times get up a dance at almost a few hours' I notice. The great ladies of high position, irhose large houses and full staff of servants ender the giving of a ball a very simple Qatter, sometimes summon their friends by elephone a day or two before the date of he entertainment. Country hostesses, how- vcr, give longer notice. Five or six weeks constitute the limit, )ut a fortnight or three weeks are sometimes considered a sufficiently long interval. The word " ball " seems to be disappearing from ^^^he list of names by which a dance is known. ^^Bt is retiring into obscurity, to be followed company on Wednesday, March 4th. Dancing 10.30-3 Windover Square. r.s.v.p This form is varied in the following circumstances. Suppose that the house of the hostess is of insufficient size to accommodate the guests, the dance is frequently given in hired rooms. In London there is a wide choice pf such rooms, all