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In general the Continental, or at least the Belgian old women permit themselves a license of manners, speech, and aspect, such as our venerable grand-dames would recoil from as absolutely disreputable, […]
1865, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “Feathery Seeds that were Freighted with Fruit of the Future”, in Strathmore: A Romance, volume I, London: Chapman and Hall,, →OCLC, page 219:
You only 'make love' languidly to some grande dame, who blinds him with sandal-wood and stifles him in lace; […]
Now the Baronne de Ribaumont Walwyn was a veritable grande dame, and Madame Croquelebois, in spite of her sharp nose, and sharper tongue, was quite cowed by her, and absolutely driven to confess that she had not heard a word against Madame la Contesse.
Died. Ruth St. Denis, 90, grande dame of modern dance, whose foresight and inspiration helped change the U.S. from a choreographic wasteland to what is today one of the world's foremost centers of dance; […]