XI
GIVING A THÉ DANSANT
English history relates how Sir Christopher Hatton danced so beautifully at a certain bal masque of the English Court that even good Queen Bess was charmed by his performance and, taking him into royal favor, made him a Knight of the Garter. I believe she also gave him much power and a high position among her advisers. So even in those sixteenth-century days dancing was an art that ranked high. Now we are equally enthusiastic over it. The modern hostess who wishes to be popular and to attract the guests she likes best must introduce dancing into her entertaining.
The old stupid afternoon teas are things of the past. The long receiving line, the heavy array of food, and the endless, manless hours of gossip are no more. We have the tea with dancing, at which there are usually as many men as women and which has about it a festive air of enjoyment that the old tea never had.
Planning and arranging a thé dansant is not
155
