per month. Her notoriety as a laundress of the first class enabled her to put
an extra charge upon the linen that passed through her hands; and although
she imposed little or no work upon her daughters, she was enabled to live
in comparative luxury and have her daughters dressed to attract attention,
especially at the negro balls and parties.

Although the term "negro ball" is applied to these gatherings,
yet a large portion of the men who attend them are whites.
Negro balls and parties in the Southern States, especially in
the cities and towns, are usually made up of quadroon women,
a few negro men, and any number of white gentlemen.
These are gatherings of the most democratic character.
Bankers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, and their clerks
and students, all take part in these social assemblies upon
terms of perfect equality. The father and son not unfrequently
meet and dance *vis a vis* at a negro ball.

It was at one of these parties that Henry Linwood, the son of a wealthy
and retired gentleman of Richmond, was first introduced to Isabella,
the oldest daughter of Agnes. The young man had just returned
from Harvard College, where he had spent the previous five years.
Isabella was in her eighteenth year, and was admitted by all who knew
her to be the handsomest girl, colored or white, in the city.
On this occasion, she was attired in a sky-blue silk dress,
with deep black lace flounces, and bertha of the same.
On her well-moulded arms she wore massive gold bracelets, while her
rich black hair was arranged at the back in broad basket plaits,
ornamented with pearls, and the front in the French style
(*a la Imperatrice*), which suited her classic face to perfection.