Part 18

on Friday evening, May first

at half-past nine o’clock

Twenty-seven Maple Street_

Or the at-home form may be used as follows:

_Mr. and Mrs. George H. Baxter

At Home

Friday evening, May first

at half-past nine o’clock

Twenty-seven Maple Street

Music_

Such an affair in the evening is often of the most elaborate character, and is essentially a concert. But a musicale may be given with equal propriety in the afternoon. The form for engraved invitations is precisely the same, with the single exception of the hours named, for the afternoon entertainment specifies the time as from four until seven o’clock.

For a less formal occasion, a hostess may extend her invitations by sending a visiting-card, on which she writes, below her name, Friday, May first, four to seven o’clock, and underneath this the single word Music. Or in place of the word Music, she may write To hear .............. adding the name of a particular performer.

The obligations of the guests follow in all respects those to which attention has been already given under the title “At Homes.” Thus, in the matter of costumes, the usage resembles that explained concerning correct garb for both afternoon and evening receptions in the earlier chapter.

It might be well to emphasize the fact that no direct reply is required for an invitation announcing that the hostess will be at home on a certain date. But the case is quite otherwise when that form of invitation is employed which requests the pleasure of the guest’s company. This demands a prompt answer, whether of acceptance or of refusal, which should be couched in the third person. Thus:

_Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sage Beckett

accept with pleasure

Mrs. Baxter’s kind invitation

for May first

Nineteen Wentworth Square

April twenty-first, 1919_

Or, in the event of inability to accept, or disinclination, the answer should run as follows:

_Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sage Beckett

regret that a previous engagement

prevents their acceptance

of Mrs. Baxter’s kind invitation

for May first

Nineteen Wentworth Square

April twenty-first, 1919_