Never Again

Excerpt from Never Again It is admitted that the days of the old-fashioned, cold, hard, and haughty, but quiet, fine-ladyism have passed; and in its place, we have the active, the aggressive, the impetuously pert and energetically arrogant style. Of this style, you are, I believe, my dear Miss Bilkers, one of the most happy examples. The demonstrative z'nsoucz'auce, if I may be allowed the expression, with which you twist your lithe'figure through the mazes of the cotillion  the insolent vigor with which you repel the contact of common peo ple, at ball or party  the active contemptuousness with which you stare down nobodies as they stroll the piazza of the watering place hotel  or still more, that ineffable expression of combative arrogance  that slap-your-face-for-two-cents kind of a look  that beams from every feature as you roll along in your carriage through Bellevue Avenue, or the drives in the Park  all, all have often excited my admira tion, and now fully warrant this public tribute of regard and esteem from your humble friend.