And she determined to be
identified with all that was most serious in the social progress of the
Five Towns. Hence some fifteen thousand pounds were spent in
refurbishing Sneyd Hall, which lies on the edge of the Five Towns, and
the Earl and Countess passed four months of the year there. Hence the
Earl, a mild, retiring man, when invited by the Town Council to be the
ornamental Mayor of Bursley, accepted the invitation. Hence the Mayor
and Mayoress gave an immense afternoon reception to practically the
entire roll of burgesses. And hence, a little later, the Mayoress let it
be known that she meant to give a municipal ball. The news of the ball
thrilled Bursley more than anything had thrilled Bursley since the
signing of Magna Charta. Nevertheless, balls had been offered by
previous mayoresses. One can only suppose that in Bursley there remains
a peculiar respect for land, railway stock, steam yachts, and
great-grandfathers' grandfathers.
Now, everybody of account had been asked to the reception. But everybody
could not be asked to the ball, because not more than two hundred people
could dance in the Town Hall. There were nearly thirty-five thousand
inhabitants in Bursley, of whom quite two thousand "counted," even
though they did not dance.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25