elf-interest, not of good
feeling; one knows exactly how, where, and when they will break down."

"What are you holding forth about, Beth?" said Mrs. Kilroy, coming up
behind her.

"The best people," Beth answered, smiling.

"You mean the people who call themselves the best people--Society,
that is to say," said Mrs. Kilroy cheerfully. "Society is the scum
that comes to the surface because of its lightness, and does not
count, except in sets where ladies' papers circulate."

"I am surprised to hear _you_ talk so, Mrs. Kilroy," said Pointed
Beard in an offended tone, as if society had been insulted in his
person.

"I am sorry if I disappoint you," said Mrs. Kilroy. "And I confess I
like my own set and their pretty manners; but I know their weaknesses.
There is no snob so snobbish as a snob of good birth. The upper
classes will be the last to learn that it is sterling qualities which
are wanted to rule the world,--head and heart."

"This gentleman will tell you that all that is bourgeois," said Beth.

"I believe that at heart the bourgeois are sound," said Angelica.
"Bourgeois signifies good, sound, self-respecting qualities to me, and
steady principles."

"But scarcely 'pretty manners,' I should suppose," said Pointed Beard
superciliously.

"Why not?" said Angelica. "Sincerity and refinement make good manners,
and principle is the parent of both."

"Don't you think that for the most part Englishwomen are singularly
lacking in charms of manner?" he asked precisely.

"Just as Englishmen are, and for the same reason," said Angelica;
"because they only try to be agreeable when it suits themselves. A
good manner is a decoration that must be kept on always if it is to be
worn with ease. Good manners are rare because good feeling is rare,
for good manners are the outcome of good feeling. Manners are not the
mere society show of politeness, but the inward kindly sympathy of
which politeness is the natural outward manifestation; given these,
grace and charm of manner come of themselves."

She moved off as she spoke to attend to other guests.

"Mrs. Kilroy is obvious," said Pointed Beard, in a tone that suggested
sympathy with Beth for being bored. "I wonder she did not give us 'For
manners are not idle,' et cetera, or something equally banal--the kind
of thing we are taught in our infancy----"

"And fail to apply ever after," said Beth.

"I see you are ready," he observed fatuously, striking the personal
note