e been at all remarkable. In Philadelphia, so far as the
eating is concerned, a bad dinner seems to be an impossibility.

In truth, Mrs. Smith's dinners were famous because they never were
marred by even the slightest suggestion of a _contretemps_; because they
glided along smoothly, and at precisely the proper rate of speed, from
oysters to coffee; and, because--and to accomplish this in Philadelphia
was to accomplish something very little short of a miracle--they never
were stupid.

Therefore it was that Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith stood among the elect, with
a comfortable sense of security in her election; and she smelled with a
satisfied nose the smell of the social incense burned before her
shrine; and she heard with well-pleased ears the social hosannas which
constantly were sung in her praise.

II.

Occupying a position at once so ornate and so enviable, the feelings of
Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith may be imagined upon finding herself confronted.
with the tragical probability that one of her most important
dinner-parties would be a failure.

In preparing for this dinner-party she had thought deeply in the still
watches of the night, and she had pondered upon it in the silence
of noonday. For Mrs. Smith, above all others, knew that only by such
soulful vigilance can a perfect dinner be secured. It was her desire
that it should be especially bright intellectually, for it was to be
given to Miss Winthrop, of Boston, and was to include Miss Winthrop's
niece, Miss Grace Winthrop, also of Boston. These ladies, as she knew,
belonged to clubs which, while modestly named after the days of the
week, were devoted wholly to the diffusion of the most exalted mental
culture. Moreover, they both were on terms of intimacy with Mr. Henry
James. On the other hand, it was her desire that the dinner should
be perfect materially, because among her guests was to be Miss Grace
Winthrop's uncle, Mr. Hutchinson Port. It was sorely against Mrs.
Smith's will that Mr. Hutchinson Port was included in her list, for
he had the reputation of being the most objectionable diner-out in
Philadelphia. His conversation at table invariably consisted solely
of disparaging remarks, delivered in an undertone to his immediate
neighbors, upon the character and quality of the food. However, in the
present case, as Miss Grace Winthrop's uncle, he was inevitable.

And, such was Mrs. Smith's genius, she believed that she had mastered
the situation. Her list-