Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
August 15, 1911
The Morris County Chronicle
Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey
What is this article about?
At a twentieth-century reception, an elderly lady shares with a courteous white-haired gentleman that 50 years prior, her first sip of champagne was interrupted before her betrothal. On their anniversary, he sends her a single glass to finish it.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
SHE FINISHED HER DRINK
Fifty Years Had Intervened but the Courteous Old Gentleman Came to the Rescue
It was at a reception of the twentieth century kind that the white-haired man and the little old lady with the point lace collar were chatting in a corner where the palms stood. They belonged to the present day only because they lived in it and tried to make its interests theirs, but when you looked at the little old lady you immediately thought of lavender and rose jars. You knew also that the white-haired man would kiss her finger tips in deference when he left her unless somebody from the modern throng restrained him, and you knew he was talking to her in phrases that belonged to a day of gallantry that had gone.
Once during their chat the little lady tapped his arm with her fan, just as they always do in story books, and said: "Ah, but you're forgetting I'm an old woman. On the 21st day of this very month I shall have been married fifty years!" and she drew back from him and looked into his face with gentle blue eyes that might have belonged to her granddaughter. "The very first taste of champagne I ever had," she went on, "was at a little party I attended just before my betrothal. I sipped a tiny bit from the glass and oh! it was good! Then, for some reason or other as I turned aside, my glass was taken away and I never had the remainder of that delightful drink." And the little old lady sighed in retrospect.
The crowd in the reception room moved closer and soon the two were absorbed by it and disappeared.
On the morning of the 21st of the month two parcels were among the mail delivered to the little lady of the point lace. One was a box containing a small golden spoon and with it the cards of the white-haired man and wife, and their formally expressed "congratulations upon her anniversary." In the other package was a note in an old-fashioned hand and a bottle of champagne of the size that holds a single glass.
"Finish it, dear lady," ran the little note "that glass they took away from you fifty years ago."
Fifty Years Had Intervened but the Courteous Old Gentleman Came to the Rescue
It was at a reception of the twentieth century kind that the white-haired man and the little old lady with the point lace collar were chatting in a corner where the palms stood. They belonged to the present day only because they lived in it and tried to make its interests theirs, but when you looked at the little old lady you immediately thought of lavender and rose jars. You knew also that the white-haired man would kiss her finger tips in deference when he left her unless somebody from the modern throng restrained him, and you knew he was talking to her in phrases that belonged to a day of gallantry that had gone.
Once during their chat the little lady tapped his arm with her fan, just as they always do in story books, and said: "Ah, but you're forgetting I'm an old woman. On the 21st day of this very month I shall have been married fifty years!" and she drew back from him and looked into his face with gentle blue eyes that might have belonged to her granddaughter. "The very first taste of champagne I ever had," she went on, "was at a little party I attended just before my betrothal. I sipped a tiny bit from the glass and oh! it was good! Then, for some reason or other as I turned aside, my glass was taken away and I never had the remainder of that delightful drink." And the little old lady sighed in retrospect.
The crowd in the reception room moved closer and soon the two were absorbed by it and disappeared.
On the morning of the 21st of the month two parcels were among the mail delivered to the little lady of the point lace. One was a box containing a small golden spoon and with it the cards of the white-haired man and wife, and their formally expressed "congratulations upon her anniversary." In the other package was a note in an old-fashioned hand and a bottle of champagne of the size that holds a single glass.
"Finish it, dear lady," ran the little note "that glass they took away from you fifty years ago."
What sub-type of article is it?
Romance
Heroic Act
What themes does it cover?
Love
Social Manners
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Anniversary
Champagne
Gallantry
Courtesy
Betrothal
What entities or persons were involved?
White Haired Man
Little Old Lady
Where did it happen?
Reception Room
Story Details
Key Persons
White Haired Man
Little Old Lady
Location
Reception Room
Event Date
21st Day Of This Very Month, Fifty Years Prior
Story Details
Elderly lady reminisces to white-haired gentleman about interrupted first champagne sip before betrothal 50 years ago; on anniversary, he sends single glass to finish it.