Current Beverage: Strong, Black, India Tea

I have a very strong point to make on the virtue of using TWO hat pins, and no less! You may think me very severe upon the subject dearest, but please hear my wisdom. My opinion on the matter has been reinforced upon my turn in Hyde Park this afternoon, as you shall hear, and I find myself in the congratulatory position of having always been sensible enough to increase the fortitude of the fixture of my chapeau upon my own elegant coif with the addition of one extra hat pin.
I found myself in a most fortuitous location for the observation of the less sensible as I was taking a turn with Mrs.Chester Leighton today. No sooner had we rounded Rotten Row to see who had taken their animals out for a jaunt, than a gust of wind plucked Mrs.Chester Leighton's befeathered concoction from her head and carried it sailing in the direction of the Serpentine River. A moment's panicked confusion crossed dear Mrs.Leighton's face, for you see, we were accompanied by no gentlemen! I shall not uncover the particulars of the poor lady's humiliation as she took off in fluttering, awkward chase (I daresay you shall even read about it in the columns! There were enough bystanders, heaven knows!), but shall simply extract the lesson that my dear friends would be wise to remember from this poor lady's humiliation.
One cannot always, or in some poor ladies' cases, ever, be certain of the company of a gentleman, upon whose chivalry she may certainly rely, when walking out of doors. And WHO indeed, as my dear Mrs.Chester Leighton discovered today, wishes to admit to being the flailing mistress of an improprietous hat? Would it be better to flag down a gentleman not of one's own party, or heaven forbid, to appear hatless? One cannot exactly carry extras as one shrewdly does with gloves. Where would a lady stow such a cumbersome forethought?
No indeed, as there is no way to save one's feminine image in the case of a hat gone rogue, I must impress upon you with severity that the ONLY course of action is precautionary...and that is in the employment of no fewer than two hat pins!