* * * * *
On my return I said to Eliza that, though the whole subject was
distasteful to me, there was one point to which I had given a few
moments' consideration. Reluctant though I was to sully my lips with
the name of Mopworth, I felt it a duty to myself to say that even if
the Mopworths had asked us to their annual party I should have refused
point-blank.
"Really?" said Eliza. This annoyed me slightly. She ought to have seen,
without being told, that it was impossible for people like us to
continue to know people like them.
"I am accustomed," I replied, "to say just exactly what I mean. As far
as I can remember, I have lately more than once asked you to drop the
Mopworths. If I have not actually done it, it has been in my mind to do
so. They are connected to us by marriage, and I am not unduly proud,
but still I feel that we must draw the line somewhere. I do not care to
have Mopworth bragging about the place that he is on intimate terms
with us."
"Well," said Eliza, "there aren't such a lot of people who ever ask us
to anything. Miss Sakers is friendly, of course, especially when there
are subscriptions on for the bazaar or the new organ, but she doesn't
carry it to that point."
"Quite so," I said, "and I'm by no means certain about Miss Sakers. She
may be all right. I hope she is. But I candidly confess that I by no
means like her manner."
At this moment the girl brought in a note, delivered by hand, from Mrs.
Mopworth. It said that she had sent an invitation to Eliza but had had
no reply. She felt so certain that the invitation must have been
delayed in the post (which was not surprising, considering the season),
that she had ventured to write again, though it might be against
etiquette. She hoped that we should both be able to come, and said that
on the previous occasion I had been the life and soul of the party.
"Well," I said, "Eliza, what would you like to do?"
"Oh, I'm going!" she replied.
"Then if you insist, I shall go with you. I've never had a word to say
against Mrs. Mopworth. It is true that _he_ is not in every particular
what--well, what I should care to be myself. Possibly he has not had my
advantages. I do not want to judge him too harshly. My dress clothes
are put away with my summer suit in the second drawer in the box-room.
Just put them to the fire to get the creases out. And, Eliza, write a
friendly note to Mrs. Mopworth, implying that we had never heard of the
party. I saw from the first that the omission was a mistake."
Eliza went away smiling. Women are so variable.