Page:Letters from India Vol 1.djvu/302

 covered with white satin for us, and the poor degraded George had his chair put a step lower; and over our chairs were our arms and motto. Whereupon I observed to Mr. Shakespear, who wanted to know what ‘Si sit prudentia’ meant, that ‘sit’ was put over my chair because I was going to sit down in it; ‘prudentia’ over Fanny’s because she stayed at home when she would have preferred coming to the ball; and ‘si’ was for George, who was sighing for a better place than he was seated in. We call that a joke at Calcutta, and it makes us laugh, though it would be rather stupid at home. I did not really sit down on my throne; I thought it would look pretending; but all the ladies, with unwonted civility, came to make their curtseys while George and I were standing there; and then the stewards carried us off to the other end of the room, where there was another large E and F, with two altars and heaps of flowers and little flames burning; pretty and allegorical, though I do not exactly know what it meant; but it looked very well. It was an immensely full ball. Supper was prepared in one room for 650, but 750 contrived to find places; and there was a