honeymoon does not in every case
admit of it, and the mother holds the "at home," and the guests inspect
the presents after the newly-married couple have left.

An "at home" is sometimes given a few days previous to the wedding for
the inspection of the presents, if they are very numerous and beautiful;
but even when this is done they still form a centre of interest on the
afternoon of the wedding to the many guests. When jewellery and plate
to any great extent form a portion of the presents, it is sometimes
thought necessary to have a policeman on duty while the house is open to
so many comers, and when to effect an entrance under the pretext of
business would be an easy matter.

CHAPTER XVIII

WEDDING EXPENSES

=The Responsibilities of a Bridegroom= from a pecuniary point of view
commence from the moment of his engagement. He must at once present the
bride-elect with an engagement ring. A man of even moderate wealth finds
no difficulty in choosing and purchasing a handsome ring costing from
L50 to L100; but a poor man, possessing but a small income, is often
put to more expense than he can conveniently afford in the matter of an
engagement ring. He knows all the members of the bride's family will sit
in judgment upon it if it is but a modest gift worth about L10, which
is quite as much as he feels he is justified in spending; he knows that
both it and himself will be regarded as very mean, or as conveying a not
very inspiriting prospect of days to come. The engagement ring worn on
the bride's finger after marriage is a lasting memento, and if a poor
one she will not be proud of it--neither will he. Rich men take the
brides to choose engagement rings, expense being no object to them; but
poor men cannot do this, as the choice might fall on gems beyond their
means, therefore they make the choice themselves, according to the
position of the families they are about to enter. If the standing is
above their own, from a money point of view, the engagement rings have
to be chosen in accordance with the jewels worn by members of such
families, and a bridegroom would thus spend L40 at least on an
engagement ring suitable to a lady so placed. On the other hand, when
men with small incomes marry the daughters of parents of a similar
position to their own, the engagement rings given are not costly ones,
and a ten-pound note, or even less, would cover the cost of these
binding tokens. The wedding rings are within the m