nice golden dowry glittering round her neck

[Tinkerbell]

"Miss Theodosia is being paraded before them, in all her charms, and by no means the least of these is the nice golden dowry glittering round her neck. 'Young gentleman, show your credentials and make your bid.'"

I couldnt understand that red sentence.

 

[Tinkerbell]

Thank you :-D

 

[BobK]

Did you get the 'all ... by no means the least of them' bit? If so, well done.:up:;-)

The 'all her charms' suggests that she's personally attractive. 'Not least of them' does two things. It makes it clear that among the 'attractive' things about her, not the least was that she was well-endowed (in a pecuniary sense!) But it also makes a play on the other meaning of 'charm' (=small ornament usually added to a 'charm-bracelet' - http://www.blavish.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/versace-charm-bracelet-2-6-07.jpg ).

Both these 'steps' (away from 'charms' in its reference to physical attributes) are underlined by the words 'Make your bids*'. Pretty cleverly written!

b

PS *The word 'bid' suggests some kind of auction

 

[Tinkerbell]

Thank you, Bob :-D I understand better now.

 

[BobK]

You're welcome. Incidentally, my 'well-endowed (in a pecuniary sense!)' was a little joke that can't have helped (but it just came out like that ;-)). 'Well-endowed', when used of a woman, usually means something like 'big-busted'. But 'well-endowed' can also refer to money. For example, my old college in Cambridge was well-endowed; the word doesn't, though, in that pecuniary sense, mean 'having a large dowry'; it just means 'well-funded, chiefly through inherited wealth'.

b