beaming readiness of which her mother had set her the example in
conjugal affairs. Her husband questioned whether, if left to herself,
she would ever have asked any one to the house; but he had long given
up trying to disengage her real self from the shape into which
tradition and training had moulded her. It was expected that well-off
young couples in New York should do a good deal of informal
entertaining, and a Welland married to an Archer was doubly pledged to
the tradition.

But a big dinner, with a hired chef and two borrowed footmen, with
Roman punch, roses from Henderson's, and menus on gilt-edged cards, was
a different affair, and not to be lightly undertaken. As Mrs. Archer
remarked, the Roman punch made all the difference; not in itself but by
its manifold implications--since it signified either canvas-backs or
terrapin, two soups, a hot and a cold sweet, full decolletage with
short sleeves, and guests of a proportionate importance.

It was always an interesting occasion when a young pair launched their
first invitations in the third person, and their summons was seldom
refused even by the seasoned and sought-after. Still, it was
admittedly a triumph that the van der Luydens, at May's request, should
have stayed over in order to be present at her farewell dinner for the
Countess Olenska.

The two mothers-in-law sat in May's drawing-room on the afternoon of
the great day, Mrs. Archer writing out the menus on Tiffany's thickest
gilt-edged bristol, while Mrs. Welland superintended the placing of the
palms and standard lamps.

Archer, arriving late from his office, found them still there. Mrs.
Archer had turned her attention to the name-cards for the table, and
Mrs. Welland was considering the effect of bringing forward the large
gilt sofa, so that another "corner" might be created between the piano
and the window.

May, they told him, was in the dining-room inspecting the mound of
Jacqueminot roses and maidenhair in the centre of the long table, and
the placing of the Maillard bonbons in openwork silver baskets between
the candelabra. On the piano stood a large basket of orchids which Mr.
van der Luyden had had sent from Skuytercliff. Everything was, in
short, as it should be on the approach of so considerable an event.

Mrs. Archer ran thoughtfully over the list, checking off each name with
her sharp gold pen.

"Henry van der Luyden--Louisa--the Lovell Mingotts--the Reggie
Chiverses--Lawrence