 | The works of Washington Irving |  |
THE WIDOW.
She would weep if that she saw a mous
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bled:
Of small hounds had she, that she fed
With rost flesh, milke, and wastel bread,
But sore wept she if any of them were dead,
Or if man smote them with a yard smart.
Chaucer.
Notwithstanding the whimsical parade
made by Lady Lillycraft on her
arrival, she has none of the petty stateliness
that I had imagined: but, on the
contrary, she has a degree of nature,
and simple-heartedness, if I may use the
phrase, that mingles well with her old-fashioned
manners and harmless ostentation.
She dresses in rich silks, with
long waist; she rouges considerably,
and her hair, which is nearly white, is
frizzed out, and put up with pins. Her
face is pitted with the small-pox, but the
delicacy of her features shows that she
may once have been beautiful; and she
has a very fair and well-shaped hand and
arm, of which, if I mistake not, the good
lady is still a little vain.
I have had the curiosity to gather a
few particulars concerning her. She
was a great belle in town between thirty
and forty years since, and reigne