. But
what do you suppose she said? She intimated that we haven't any social
position."

"Very kind of her, I'm sure. She must be a woman of
discrimination--likewise something of a character."

"She's smart. So you think it's true?"

"What? About our social position? Ours is as good as theirs, I fancy."

"Oh yes, Wilbur. She acknowledges that herself. She admires us both and
she thinks it fine that we don't care for that sort of thing. What she
said was chiefly in connection with herself, but she intimated that
neither they, nor we, are the--er--equals of the people who live on
Fifth Avenue and thereabouts. She's a cousin of the Morton Prices,
whoever they may be, and she declared perfectly frankly that they were
better than she. Wasn't it funny?"

"You seem to have made considerable progress for one visit."

"I like that, you know, Wilbur. I prefer people who are willing to tell
me their real feelings at once."

"Morton Price is one of the big bugs. His great grandfather was among
the wise, shrewd pioneers in the commercial progress of the city. The
present generation are eminently respectable, very dignified, mildly
philanthropic, somewhat self-indulgent, reasonably harmless, decidedly
ornamental and rather dull."

"But Mrs. Williams says that she will never be happy until her relations
and the people of that set are obliged to take notice of her, and that
she and her husband are going to cut a dash to attract attention. It's
her secret."

"The cat which she let out of the bag is a familiar one. She must be
amusing, provided she is not vulgar."

"I don't think she's vulgar, Wilbur. She wears gorgeous clothes, but
they're extremely pretty. She said that she called on me because she
thought that we were literary, and that she desired an antidote to the
banker's business, which shows she isn't altogether worldly. She wishes
us to dine with them soon."

"That's neighborly."

"Why was it, Wilbur, that you didn't buy our house instead of hiring
it?"

"Because I hadn't money enough to pay for it."

"The Williamses bought theirs. But I don't believe they paid for it
altogether. She says her husband thinks the land will increase in value,
and they hope some day to make money by the rise. I imagine Mr. Williams
must be shrewd."

"He's a business man. Probably he bought, and gave a mortgage back. I
might have done that, but we weren't sure we should like the location,
and it isn't certain yet that fashion wi