not ask a lady for permission to call
upon her. It is very easy for her, if she desires his company, to say:
"I receive Thursdays," or, "I shall be at home Monday." It is a great
discourtesy for a gentleman not to call at the time mentioned, or in a
very few days, after being thus invited by a lady. Some gentlemen, if
simply asked to "call sometime," will ask, "when may I have the
pleasure of seeing you?" To this question a definite answer should be
returned, if possible. Very young ladies do not thus invite gentlemen;
the invitation coming from either father, mother, or chaperon.

A gentleman does not call upon a lady without some intimation of her
wishes in the matter, unless he is the bearer of a letter of
introduction, or is taken to her home by some friend sufficiently well
acquainted to warrant the liberty. He may, however, seek an
introduction through some mutual acquaintance.

Ladies may express regret at being out when a gentleman called; he
also should regret the absence. If it should happen that a gentleman
should call several times in succession and be so unfortunate as to
miss the lady each time, it would be quite proper for her to write him
a note, regretting her absence and appointing an evening when she
would be at home for his next call. This would remove any feeling of
annoyance on his part that perhaps her absence had been premeditated.

Gentlemen frequently call upon their married lady friends, doing so
without the slightest appearance of secrecy and with full knowledge of
all parties concerned. Indeed, the right of entrance to some of these
pleasant home parlors is a great boon to the unmarried men of our
cities. Ladies do not call upon gentlemen except professionally or
officially, or, it may be, in some cases of protracted invalidism.

"Out of Society."

It sometimes happens that a newly-married lady, or a newcomer in some
city, through severe illness, a season of mourning, or devotion to
home duties, finds herself, in a year or so, completely "out" of a
society with which she had scarcely become acquainted. If she be timid
and non-assertive, she will sink back dismayed at the prospect, but if
energetic and aspiring, she will at once win her way back by giving a
series of receptions, either formal or informal, to all her old-time
friends; or, by entering into charities, or joining literary or
musical clubs, she will quickly reinstate herself in the memory of
society.

Conduct of the Hos