Merritt Chase, A Friendly Call. Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art.

It’s time to bust out the bunting, Britain: William has popped that all important question! In fact, he and Kate got engaged in Kenya last month in a move that ended a marathon eight-year courtship. Prime Minister David Cameron was among the first to congratulate them, stepping outside No. 10 to state that William is “extremely excited” and “thrilled.”

The pair are set to marry next spring or summer in what will be the biggest royal event in decades. I can only imagine that these imminent nuptials will — mark my words — give momentum to months and months of speculation amongst (especially) women about all manner of things. Let’s see… there’s the dress (designer? shape? style?), hair (ditto), bridesmaids (who, what-wearing?) flowers (colors? character?) food, cake, carriage and the marriage ceremony. This event will be plundered and picked apart by all the lovely ladies who’ve long been in-waiting for this most make-believe of matrimonies.

So in the spirit of a good girly gossip, today we’re showcasing William Merritt Chase, who in his painting A Friendly Call (1895) nails that cosy and excited feel of a convivial chin-wag. Chase was used to sitting in on and whipping up this sort of sublimely genteel snap-shot of high and polite society in the 1890s, and in this instance is set in his large summer house in Long Island. His wife Alice is at the right with her visitor on the left.