High and Low; Or, Life's Chances and Changes

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1854 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X. It was rather late when he got there; but it was the only dancing drum of the night, and the house was crowded from half-way up the staircase to a third of the way up to the second floor. He found Lady Pippledem on the landing. She never deserted her post, push, and crush, and squeeze as they would, the whole crowd could not have budged Lady Pippledem from the spot where she received her guests. With so many great people to shake hands with, she must have died of apoplexy (her threatening malady) if they had not moved her from the landing. The Marchioness of Frumpingdown would have cut i her for ever if she had not been ready, as that great lady came up, to make a lane, and say loud enough for everybody to hear: "Would you be kind enough to let Lady Frumpingdown get past." And then, what a disappointment it would have been to the whole room not to have known that the Countess of Blueblaises was at the party. All the world was ready, at the shortest notice, to fall down and worship Lady Blueblaises--it was so well known she had not her equal in the United Kingdom for saying ill-natured things and taking away people's characters. Lady Pippledem welcomed her with becoming affection, and whispered to a bystander, so that Lady Blueblaises might hear it, "What a lovely girl Lady Adlecheeser" (her seventh daughter) "is." She was a shrewd matron, was Lady Pippledem--made a good, dashing, vulgar attempt to be a great lady, and succeeded on the main as well as the average do. Rank was her idol--the cabalistic arts of a " Baptiste Hatton" had never been dreamed of in her philosophy--and she plumped down on her knees without more ado, and fell to worshipping it quite devoutly; not in a sneaking, cowardly, underhand way, like some who are ashamed of what they...