LADIES' COLUMN.

Patea Mail, 9 October 1880, Page 5 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

THE RED UMBRELLA RAGE IN PARIS. Is it ‘a sign of the times ’ (writes ‘Stella’) that red, the colour of the violent revolutionary party, is in such general favour at this time among all classes. The favourite colour for contrasting-trimmings on ladies’ dresses is red; a plaiting of bright red now peeps out from beneath the white laceedged trimming that protects the inside of the hems of walking-dresses; red poppies, red roses, red geraniums, red strawberries, red currants, are ‘ a rage ’ for trimming bonnets ; a very elegant one was trimmed entirely with little radishes so like nature that they would pass muster as ‘real’ on any dinner, if judged by the eyes alone. Red parasols are equally the ruling fancy of the hour. They are to be seen by the score, iu the Champs Elyaoes, on any sunny day. Some are largo, some are small; some are

of a single shade of staring red, others display various shades of the favourite colours some arc shaded with black, others are glaring with yellow. But though the choice of red for parasols is a novelty just now, the idea may be said to have had its rise some seven years ago ; at the moment when the public sentiment of this capital was so hotly excited by the light for a scat in the Chamber of Deputies between the Count do llemusat and M. Barodet, the famous demagogue of Lyons. The electoral contest alluded to may be remembered as having fixed the attention, not only of France hut of Europe ; yet no one could have forscen, as one of its consequences, that out of it would grow the use of red parasols! But so it has been, and in this wise. One evening, in the hottest of the electoral excitement, there was a party in one of the most aristocratic salon* of the Faubourg hit. Germain—that of the Countess do F.—whoso daughter, the Duchess de V., assisted her mother in doing the honours of her splendid drawing-rooms. 'The aristocratic assembly talked eagerly of the pending struggle between the two candidates, the general voice declaring it to be impossible that such a candidate as Count de llemusat could fail to triumph over such a candidate as Barodet. An eminent diplomatist, the Marquis de 11., went so far as to declare the Count would poll at least {50,000 votes more than his opponent. The Duchess do A . alone of all the brilliant company took no part in this expression of opinion. Seated in one of the deep recesses formed by the windows, with two young princesses with whom she is very intimate) she was chatting and laughing with them as though she heard nothing of what was being said around her. But suddenly when the Marquis dc It. had declared, for the tenth time, that all the chances were in favour of do llemusat, she ceased her gossip with her young friends, said in a clear calm voice, ‘Monsieur Ic Marquis, 1 will wager you anything you please that M, dc llemusat will be beaten.’ ‘I accept your wager, Madame la Duchesse,’ cried the Marquis, joyfully, ‘and I shall carefully cherish, all the days of my life, whatever object it shall please you to oiler me as the result of this bet. ’

‘ ’Twixt cup and lip, Monsieur le Marquis, there's many a slip !' returned the Duchess. A few days afterwards, on the 27th of April, occurred the electoral struggle that formed the subject of this wager, and of which the result proved the correctness of that lady’s prevision. The Marquis, terribly disappointed, remarked to a friend, * This is a sad blow for France, and a trouble for me ! The Duchess de V. is not an ordinary person ; what on earth can I send her for the wager which I have lost, and which she has Avon. A ring, a locket, a fan, things one could scud to any other lady, would seem too commonplace to oiler to her; I must find something worthy of her, and of me ! Day Mercury and all the gods inspire my choice ! ’ Three weeks passed away, and the Duchess do V., having received nothing from the Marquis remarked to a common friend, ‘Pray say to the Marquis de R. that it is customary to pay a wager within three days, and that I regard his omission as ungentlemanly. If he is unable to decide as to what he will send me, tell him I should like it to bo a revolver. ’

The 21th of May arrived, and Marshal Mac Mahon was elected President of the llepublic ; but still the Marquis had sent nothing to the Duchess dc V., who ceased to notice him when she met him, while her mother, astonished and indignant at such an offence against social rules, was seriously thinking of closing her doors against him. Such was the state of things when one evening, all the guests of the Countess deF. who came to her weekly reception, were saluted with the exclamations, ‘ He has paid his wager ! He has paid his wager ! ’Tis superb! ’Tis delightful i No one but the ■Marquis de I’. could have imagined such a gift! ’ The Duchess, radiant, led each of the guests, as they entered the drawing-room to the table on which was displayed the gift which discharged the Marquis’s debt of honour, consisting of a black Morocco case, on which v.'ere embossed in bright red letters this inscription : —‘ To Madame la Duehcsse de V , from Citizen Barodet, Deputy of the Seine, April 27, J S7-L ’ This case, lined with scarlet satin, contained a scarlet umbrella. This umbrella, a die 1 ’d'oiiirre in its way, was a miracle of taste and workmanship ; the stick was of ebony, on which the cypher and arms of the Duchess were en». crusted in gold, a gem such as only Paris can produce, and which it had taken six weeks to finish.

‘ As I have been rude to the Marquis de K.,’said the Duchess, 1 must atone for my rudeness by thanking him at once for his charming present.’ Seating herself at a writing table, the Duchess penned the following note, which, read aloud by her, received the plaudits of the company : ‘To Citizen Barodet, care of Monsieur 1c Marquis de 11 . ‘ Citizen, —I deplore your election, but I adore your umbrella. * I am not sure that I would give up your umbrella even to annul your election, for I am a woman and not a voter. Be very sure that I will only use your umbrella against the llepublic, and never against the rain, for that would spoil it! ‘ Salutation and fraternity, ‘ CrnzEXKHS dk V .’

‘P. S.—l beg citizen Barodet to present my thanks to the Marquis de E for having had the kindness to act as an intermediary between us. lam greatly obliged to him for so doing.’ ‘ A red umbrella I’ the Duchess, ‘ I am the only woman in the world possessing a red umbrella ! I shall take it with me to-morrow to the rapes ; and we shall see what the Beds will say about it ’’ She did so ; and as soon as she had displayed her treasure on the racecourse, the members of the Jockey Club, and fashionable world that docks to the Paris races to see and be seen, had no eyes for anything but the red umbrella; and expressions of surprise, admiration, or disapproval were to be heard all over the weighing-place and the

I Grand Stand, filled with the umpires of taste and of fashion. Many ladies determined to sport a red umbrella, or a parasol of the same colour ; but no one ventured to put the wish into execution. But the seed thus planted, though it has taken seven years to germinate, has borne fruit at last, and as already remarked, the red parasol threatens to drive all others out of the field, for the present season at all events. ’