Afterwards, sometimes
figures were slim and encased in sheathlike draperies, sometimes
folds rippled about feet, "fullness" crept here or there or
disappeared altogether, trains grew longer or shorter or wider or
narrower, cashmeres, grosgrain silks and heavy satins were suddenly
gone and chiffon wreathed itself about the world and took possession
of it. Bonnets ceased to exist and hats were immense or tiny, tall
or flat, tilted at the back, at the side, at the front, worn over
the face or dashingly rolled back from it; feathers drooped or
stood upright at heights which rose and fell and changed position
with the changing seasons. No garment or individual wore the same
aspect for more than a month's time. It was necessary to change
all things with a rapidity matching the change of moods and fancies
which altered at the rate of the automobiles which dashed here
and there and everywhere, through country roads, through town,
through remote places with an unsparing swiftness which set a new
pace for the world.
"I cannot hark back regretfully to stage coaches," said Lord Coombe.
"Even I was not born early enough for that. But in the days of
my youth and innocence express trains seemed almost supernatural.
One could drive a pair of horses twenty miles to make a country
visit, but one could not drive back the same day. One's circle
had its limitations and degrees of intimacy.
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