Page:Lady Anne Granard 2.pdf/178

176 parties should be examined, in order that little pincushions and purses; little old women and little negroes; diminutive models of cathedrals and castles; wee reticules; diamond editions of old poets, and baby albums; little socks and less mittens; miniature scaramouches and punchinelloes: men-of-war, with minnikin pins for their cannon, &c., might be selected; and accordingly a certain time was fixed on when the committee-room received all that was sent, and the lady patronesses began eagerly to select the pretty little things to be sold by the pretty little ladies, who popped about amid the gay confusion, like birds of paradise, selecting their food from baskets of parti- coloured flowers. Although a great quantity of materials appeared, in the first place, to meet the demand, the sharp eye of the duchess, who understood the affair, soon perceived that there must not only be little but few things assigned to the stand of the Wrens, or some others would be lamentably deficient. Brighton was not a likely place for work to progress in effectively; those who come to see and be seen, cannot afford to shut themselves up for hours together, at the risk of getting pale cheeks and dim eyes; therefore, much the greater part of the goods in question were bought, and the purchasers either could not, or would not, or at least did not, produce, by any means, what was expected. Those parties who, like the Misses Wren, were conscious of their own strength in persons "fine