dolphine, was doing for Floortje and Dijkerhof. And brag
and boast as she might, she, the exception among the Van Lowes, the
thrifty Adolphine, who counted every twopenny-bit--where _did_ she get
those economical ideas from? Mamma van Lowe would sometimes ask
herself--was unable to come within hailing-distance of what Van Naghel
and Bertha and the Van Ravens and their friends on both sides had done;
she thought it absurd, she thought it flinging money away, she grumbled
to herself that everything had gone up so terribly in price: a
deep-rooted prudence--an atavistic quality, a mysterious
throw-back--disapproved of that luxury of parties, trousseaus, presents,
flowers with which Emilie's wedding-days had glittered; she thought it
ridiculous, she wanted to do everything more economically and yet she
did not like doing everything so economically; and so there was an
incessant struggle, both with herself and with Floortje, who also did
not wish to be second to Emilie and who gave no thought to money: it was
only her parents' money! But still, with her peculiar gift of
self-glorification, Adolphine was now able to praise Floortje's
trousseau to Cateau above all those lace fripperies of Emilie's.

"Much ni-cer and more last-ing, _I_ think, Adolph-ine!" whined Cateau.

"Yes; and just look at those chemises, look at those table-cloths and
napkins: there's quality there, you can't beat it," said Adolphine,
patting the stacks of linen in the cupboard. "And all those silly
presents which Emilie had, all that silver, which she can't use: what do
young people, who of course won't be seeing people for the first few
years, want with so much silver? I'm very glad that _our_ friends have
been more practical in choosing their presents for Floortje: _I_
shouldn't have been at all pleased if Floortje had been set up in her
silver-cupboard by people whom you may call acquaintances, if you like,
but who, after all, are strangers."

"Ye-e-es," whined Cateau. "At Emilie-tje's reception, it looked just
like Van Kem-pen's shop. I thought it so vul-gar and com-mon, didn't
_you_, Adolph-ine?"

The epithets were not exceptionally well-chosen as applied to Van Naghel
and Bertha--even Adolphine could see that--but she admired her own
purchases and _her_ friends' presents too greatly to say so to Cateau.

CHAPTER XXIV

Constance made it a duty to go often to Adolphine's during Floortje's
wedding-preliminaries. She went out of her way to