No. 23 - Entrance of Bridesmaids, and Song - Hester - "Trousseau."

Lyrics by G. H. Jessop

[Bridesmaids:] What a show of pretty things,
Light and airy;
Lawns transparent as the wings of a fairy;
Morning gowns and robes de nuit,
most bewitching;
Cambric fancies fair to see,
And what stitching! And what stitching!
Satins, silks or ev'ry sort,
most profuse, oh!
Ev'ry thing en suite, in short,
What a trousseau,
What a trousseau, what a trousseau.
Hush, a gentleman is near us.
Let us hope he didn't overhear us.
[Hester:] Ladies, I heard the subject
of your conversation.
One little word you spoke
Has stirr'd my liveliest imagination.
There's a word that maidens speak,
Smiling archly as they do so;
Rosy blushes deck the cheek
At the mention of a trousseau.
E'en the shyest girl that goes
Fearing love and shrinking, shrinking
At the sight of furbelows
Finds herself a-thinking, thinking.
[Bridesmaids:] Finds herself a-thinking, thinking.
[Hester:] Trousseau, trousseau, word of mystery,
Framed for ruby lips to say,
Marking in a maiden's history
One supreme eventful day.
[Bridesmaids:] Trousseau, trousseau, word of mystery,
Framed for ruby lips to say,
Marking in a maiden's history
One supreme eventful day.

[Hester:] Did I wish I could reveal
all the secrets of a trousseau,
But I see the mute appeal
In your eyes, and fear to do so.
I could tell them through and through
From a ribbon to a stocking,
And my knowledge, if you knew,
Would not be consider'd shocking.
[Bridesmaids:] Would not be consider'd shocking.
[Hester:] Do not blush, I am not mocking,
Chivalry my lips shall seal.
Thoughts are like a lady's stocking
made to hide and yet reveal.
[Bridesmaids:] We are blushing; this is shocking.
Tell us how or why or when,
Tell us what a lady's stocking
Has to do with thoughts of men.