These Old Shades
by
Georgette Heyer
"…This Age I grant (and grant with pride),
Is varied, rich, eventful:
But if you touch its weaker side,
Deplorably resentful:
Belaud it, and it takes your praise
With air of calm conviction:
Condemn it, and at once you raise
A storm of contradiction.
Whereas with these old shades of mine,
Their ways and dress delight me;
And should I trip by word or line,
They cannot well indict me. …"
Austin Dobson: Epilogue to Eighteenth-Century Vignettes
London
William Heinemann Ltd.
