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that she would prefer to eat burnt toast until her hair started to curl
    and sup on laudanum until she was dragged to Bedlam than partake in the
    ton's various amusements!
    Melodramatic perhaps, but it was how she felt!
    Tonight, they were attending the theater. The smells were, quite frankly,
    horrific. The Great Unwashed as the peasants of this great country were so
    mockingly termed, shared the characteristic with many of Lily's own
    contemporaries! But in their case, it was truly unnecessary! These folk were
    wealthy and could afford to have an elaborate toilette!
    Lily found the lack of which truly disgusting and the scents of so many
    unwashed bodies in the heat of the night, the cloistered halls of the theater
    seeming to magnify it by ten, had her almost wincing whenever she inhaled.
    She had taken to dipping a handkerchief in lavender or rose water before
    attending a function such as these, where the ripe scent of sweating and
    unclean humanity was truly abhorrent to the nose and to the sensibilities.
    In the country, where people were supposedly less au fait than their tonnish
    counterparts, the majority of folk in Lily's acquaintance bathed regularly and
    her own family were accustomed to cleaning themselves at least once or
    even twice a day.
    It seemed that they were the unusual ones, if the horrid scent that rose to
    the balcony in which she and Aunt Millie and Uncle George were seated, was
    anything by which to make her conclusion!
    Huffing a slight breath, she dabbed her handkerchief along her upper lip and
    sighed with relief as the delicious bouquet of lavender overpowered her
    senses.
    Her aunt was almost hanging over the balcony as she spoke to their
    neighbors and there were faint calls from below as people in her aunt's
    acquaintance made their presence known to her. Uncle George, a placid
    fellow and rather an amusing and dry-witted one at that, sat back against
    his seat with a look of enjoyment on his bullish face.
    The differences between her aunt and uncle were great, but it was evident
    that both enjoyed that about each other. Uncle George reveled in watching
    his wife being diverted by the latest on-dit and Aunt Millie relished dragging
    her husband out of his study and into the world at large.
    Lily knew that were she to make a marriage such as theirs, she would
    indeed be blessed. For love was at its base and what more could one ask for,
    but that?
    Sighing, she took in the sights that were to be had which included the
    surprisingly small stage which had open flames at its edge and was
    surrounded by a four floored mass of humanity that had Lily sighing with
    discomfort. She had never been anywhere like this before and it would
    indeed be her first outing to the theater, but having so many people around
    her felt almost entombing and she would be very grateful when Don
    Giovanni started and she could at least lose herself in the opera.
    Even her dislike of being amongst such a large crowd could not diminish the
    beauty she saw within its hallowed walls. The ceiling was so high that it
    seemed an almost impossible task to have actually constructed it! It was
    painted with a frieze that depicted galloping horses rolling across billowing
    cushions of clouds and a rider at the helm of the gilt and golden chariot.
    The molded plaster that was in gloriously weaving shapes and ended with a
    crest of the Royal family at the hull of the ceiling was a delight to behold.
    The creamy yellowed and age patina'd walls were complimented by the
    ruddy reds of the stage's curtains.
    Uncle George was a rich man and so, their box was on the third floor and
    relatively close to the stage. It ensured a fabulous view of the actors as they
    plied their trade and despite herself, and the continued apathetic gloom that
    had so settled over her, Lily began to feel some excitement that was shared
    by the rest of the crowd.
    Her opera glasses rested on her knee and she raised them to take in her
    peers. Attendance was at a