It is not worth while to prepare highly spiced entremets and dishes of mushrooms and terrapin for guests who would be better suited with plainer viands; while, on the other hand, a very simple dinner is not the thing to set before a company of epicures. 105 A LARGB DINNER THUS far the descriptions of breakfasts, luncheons, and dinners have been giv- en from the standpoint of the housekeeper. The outline of this, a more ceremonious meal than any before described, will be from the point of view of the guest, who regards ev- erything as a mere spectator, and not with the eyes of the hostess, who has studied every step of the repast from its inception to its completion. Two weeks before the dinner the guest re- ceives his invitation, which may have been sent either by private hand or by post. The latter method in these days of " magnificent distances" is rapidly growing in favor. The invitation card, which is about three and a half inches wide by four and a half long, is engraved in a dashing script as follows : 196 A LAKGE DINNEB Mr, and Mrs. Pdham Blank request t7ie pleasure of Mr. '« company at dinner on at half -past seven o'clock^ Oramercy Square. The name of the guest and the date of the dinner are written in the blank spaces on the card. To this invitation he sends an imme- diate reply. The guest reaches the house of his enter- tainers on the appointed evening at a few minutes before the dinner hour. In the coat- room he finds a man-servant in attendance, ready to assist in any trifling matters of the toilet, who hands each gentleman, on a silver tray, a tiny envelope, enclosing a card bear- ing the name of the lady he is to take in to dinner. Descending to the drawing-room, the name of the guest is announced at the door by a servant, who draws aside the por- tiere to allow him to enter. His first address is, of course, to Mr. and Mrs. Blank, who stand near the door receiving. The young 197 WHAT TO EAT — HOW TO SERVE IT man, Fidus by name, congratulates himself inwardly that he at least is on time, and, see- ing at a glance how few of his fellow con- vives have arrived, marvels anew, as he has done often before, that well-bred people will be so careless of the laws that regulate good society as to arrive at a house ten, fifteen, and even twenty minutes after the hour fixed for dinner. As Fidus has never met the young lady whose name is written on the card presented to him in the dressing-room, he promptly re- quests an introduction of his hostess, and chats with his fate for this evening until— all of the fourteen invited guests having arrived — a servant draws back the portieres and an- D ounces by a bow that dinner is served. Mr. Blank offers his arm to the guest for whom the dinner is especially given — a charming Englishwoman — and the rest of the party follow them to the dining-room. There is no suggestion of precedence, except as the younger guests naturally give way to the elders of the company. Mrs. Blank and her attendant cavalier come last. 198 A LARGE DINNER The dining-roonij a fine large apartment, is lighted only by candles; but there are plenty of these in sconces, in candelabra, in candle- sticks of odd and pretty designs. Flowers are all about wherever their use, either singly or massed, can produce a good effect.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

It is not worth while to prepare highly spiced entremets and dishes of mushrooms and terrapin for guests who would be better suited with plainer viands; while, on the other hand, a very simple dinner is not the thing to set before a company of epicures. A LARGB DINNER THUS far the descriptions of breakfasts, luncheons, and dinners have been given from the standpoint of the housekeeper. The outline of this, a more ceremonious meal than any before described, will be from the point of view of the guest, who regards everything as a mere spectator, and not with the eyes of the hostess, who has studied every step of the repast from its inception to its completion. Two weeks before the dinner the guest receives his invitation, which may have been sent either by private hand or by post. The latter method in these days of " magnificent distances" is rapidly growing in favor. The invitation card, which is about three and a half inches wide by four and a half long, is engraved in a dashing script as follows : A LARGE DINNER Mr. and Mrs. Parham Blank request the pleasure of Mr. '« company at dinner on at half-past seven o'clock, Gramercy Square. The name of the guest and the date of the dinner are written in the blank spaces on the card. To this invitation he sends an immediate reply. The guest reaches the house of his entertainers on the appointed evening at a few minutes before the dinner hour. In the coatroom he finds a man-servant in attendance, ready to assist in any trifling matters of the toilet, who hands each gentleman, on a silver tray, a tiny envelope, enclosing a card bearing the name of the lady he is to take in to dinner. Descending to the drawing-room, the name of the guest is announced at the door by a servant, who draws aside the portiere to allow him to enter. His first address is, of course, to Mr. and Mrs. Blank, who stand near the door receiving. The young man, Fidus by name, congratulates himself inwardly that he at least is on time, and, seeing at a glance how few of his fellow convives have arrived, marvels anew, as he has done often before, that well-bred people will be so careless of the laws that regulate good society as to arrive at a house ten, fifteen, and even twenty minutes after the hour fixed for dinner. As Fidus has never met the young lady whose name is written on the card presented to him in the dressing-room, he promptly requests an introduction of his hostess, and chats with his fate for this evening until— all of the fourteen invited guests having arrived — a servant draws back the portieres and announces by a bow that dinner is served. Mr. Blank offers his arm to the guest for whom the dinner is especially given — a charming Englishwoman — and the rest of the party follow them to the dining-room. There is no suggestion of precedence, except as the younger guests naturally give way to the elders of the company. Mrs. Blank and her attendant cavalier come last. A LARGE DINNER The dining-room, a fine large apartment, is lighted only by candles; but there are plenty of these in sconces, in candelabra, in candlesticks of odd and pretty designs. Flowers are all about wherever their use, either singly or massed, can produce a good effect.

What to eat, how to serve it