The opera was always the destination of last resort. The name of Lady Catherine de Bourgh had been inscribed on the fans, making her subsequent object to appear only infrequently in the box, as attendance was a clear indication of having no invitation elsewhere. The de Bourgh ladies were not so charming as to be the universal first choice of company, but as there were few competitors in the lists, Lady Catherine could often contrive an invitation for some nights of the week. If this diversion failed, the ruse of particularly preferring this opera could provide some justification in a few extra attendances. If the performance were indifferent, the concluding ballet was usually interesting, and the diversion of watching the exquisites lounging and parading about Fop’s Alley with their snuff boxes and affected lisps was always available, although at this season, they were also amongst the “thins.” The dandies, having no business at the House, had—as was their practise—contrived to inveigle invitations to a succession of country houses sufficient to pass the time until one’s appearance in London could be made in safety for one’s reputation. The de Bourghs assiduously avoided the Green Room, the bargaining being too flagrant for the delicacy of an unmarried girl, and no charm remaining for a widow not in search of a younger man willing to exchange some portion of his freedom for the security of an income.

The crush-room was now sparse, affording hardly an injury or affront, and the opportunities for flirting and gossip were similarly circumscribed. The less-fashionables in residence employed themselves faisant bien des riens, making the usual purchases, visiting their usual set, walking in Hyde Park, and watching people in the Square. The Royal Institution offered lectures on various learned subjects and, for a time, the ladies of the first sets had sought a place, squeezed in amongst an hundred others of a morning, to listen with profound attention to a discourse on some difficult scientifical topic such as the Calculus or Chemical Philosophy, taking notes, and hoping to have an opportunity to display their erudition before it evaporated from their brains. The younger ladies had teachers and lessons in the mornings, whilst the older wrote letters, reviewed their visiting-books from the previous year, and paid morning calls to whomever they thought would not be offended by an early visit. If the weather were at all tolerable, a short turn in the park might be agreeable, and then maybe an afternoon call or two, and, if lucky, an invitation to stay the evening at some desirable residence after a dinner or entertainment to avoid having to go home in the wet and the dark.