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pox? Why are one’s monthly bills ever so much larger than one expects, and why is one’s bank book always on the wrong side? The answer to these questions lies in the constitution of things. They can’t be explained, and the best way is just to accept the inevitable. Men or no men, I’m going to have a dinner party next week, and we will write out the invitations this evening.’

“‘Perhaps we might ask some people from Newchurch,’ I suggested at last. Newchurch is the great place of our district. As far as we go here, everyone considers that our tone is very high in Green Street. Other places may have more population (as a matter of detail, a great many have), more shops, more bustle; but if you want really good society, fresh air, early services, the feast of reason and the flow of soul, you must come to Green Street. Of course, if you want excitement, you can go to town. You can get plenty of balls and theatres there. In mentioning this it is customary to curl the tip of one’s nose up with just the merest shadow of a sneer. It is a little difficult to manage at first, but you soon get into the way of it. Perhaps I ought to add that a good many of us do go to Newchurch (whenever we can afford it), but we always delight in coming back to our peaceful,