A Lady of High Regard Read Online Free PDF

be sure, but she thought Martha actually breathed easier without the bondage of her gloves.
    “What other rules may we cast aside?” Josephine asked, snorting in pleasure.
    “I would be glad if gowns would be fashionable without long sleeves,” Prudence announced. “Couldn’t you convince Mrs. Hale to set new fashions in Godey’s with shorter sleeves?”
    “Well, there are some very lovely evening gowns that have short sleeves—sometimes even no sleeves,” Mia said thoughtfully. “But then you must wear the gloves.”
    “Yes. Long, hot, uncomfortable gloves that reach to your upper arm lest someone spy your uncovered elbow,” Martha said, shaking her head. “Can elbows really be that provocative?”
    They all laughed at this. Mia had to agree that society had some very harsh dictates for its women. In the deadly heat of a Philadelphia summer, Mia too had longed for fashions without sleeves and layers of petticoats and crinoline.
    “Perhaps we shall change the world of fashion,” Prudence said thoughtfully. “After all, should it not be women who decide what is comfortable and fashionable?”
    “Last year at the London Exhibition, a man named Charles Frederick Worth had several prized designs for ladies’ gowns,” Mia said, remembering the information from something Sarah Hale had told her. “It is thought that he will change the appearance of gowns. No doubt the set of sleeves and the bodice are sure to be a part of that. He seems quite innovative.”
    “Then perhaps we should correspond with Mr. Worth and tell him how we feel about the length of sleeves,” Abigail said with a grin.
    “And about elbows,” Martha added.
    “No one has even mentioned the weight of the horsehair crinolines,” Lydia said.
    “Perhaps we shouldn’t even begin that conversation,” Mia said, casting her glance to the ceiling. “If men had to wear an additional thirty pounds of clothing every day, they would soon enough change the fashion.”
    “No one cares what women think. Women suffer all manner of complication and trial and no one does anything about it,” Prudence declared.
    Mia straightened a bit at this comment. “Sarah Hale has great concern for women and children. She is already hard at work to see industry changes made to accommodate the needs of both. Shorter working hours and less dangerous environments are just two of the things she would see altered.”
    “But should those women even be working?” Josephine questioned. “After all, the Bible says younger women should marry, bear children, and guide the house. That doesn’t sound to me as though they should be in the workplace.”
    “So what should they do when they are widowed or their husbands cannot work?” Mia asked.
    “The church should take care of them.”
    “And if the church cannot or will not? After all, there are a great many people in this city—more than a hundred thousand. How would the church bear that burden alone? There are of course poorhouses, but those are overflowing as it is. The wealthy are not nearly so generous with their giving as the poor are in their need.”
    “So you think women should work?” Prudence asked.
    “I think a woman has to examine the situation for herself and prayerfully consider what is to be done,” Mia told the group. “I would encourage family and friends to first see to her needs. That is what people did for Mrs. Hale when her beloved husband died young. He left her with four children and another on the way. She had no means, so others came alongside her until she could figure out how to help her own situation. The godly woman described in Proverbs thirty-one is hardly idle, after all. And what of young women who have no husbands? Should they not be allowed to work and earn money for their own support or the betterment of their families?”
    “If it is necessity that dictates and not merely vanity, then I would guess it to be acceptable,” Lydia answered.
    “But what determines necessity?”