to church; I will not
say that her mind was there, or that she had heard much of the
sermon. Some of it, however, she undoubtedly _had_ heard, and she
proved it at this point, breaking in upon Dr. Matthews' musings as he
stirred his second cup of coffee:

"Dr. Matthews, how do you like being preached at?"

"Preached at?" the doctor echoed, with a sleepy air.

"Yes, preached at. I'm sure, if you were not asleep this morning, you
must have heard yourself all but called by name. Who else could Dr.
Selmser have been hinting at when he burst forth with such a tirade
on whist parties? It isn't a week since we had ours, and he almost
described what we had for supper."

"Fudge!" said Dr. Matthews. He was occasionally more apt to be
expressive than elegant in his expressions. "What do you suppose he
knows about our party? There were a dozen, I dare say, that very
evening, and as many more the next evening. They are common enough, I
am sure. And he didn't say anything personal, nor anything very bad,
anyhow. They all take that position--have to, I suppose; it's a part
of their business. _I_ don't like them any the less for it. I
wouldn't listen to a preacher who played whist."

Mrs. Matthews set her pretty lips in a most determined way, and
answered, in an injured tone:

"Oh, well, if you like to be singled out in that manner, and held up
as an example before the whole congregation, I'm sure you're welcome
to the enjoyment; but as for me, I think it is just an insult."

"Stuff and nonsense!" echoed the doctor. "How you women can work
yourselves into a riot over nothing. Now you know he didn't say any
more than he has a dozen times before. In fact, he was rather mild on
that point, I thought; and I concluded he considered he had said
about all there was to be said in that line, and might as well slip
it over. There wasn't a personal sentence in it, anyhow. The doctor
is a gentleman. More than that, I don't believe he knows we had a
whist party. If he set out to keep track of all the _parties_ there
are in his congregation it would make a busy life for him. Your
conscience must have reproached you, Maria."

"Well, some people are less sensitive than others, I suppose. I
_know_ men who wouldn't like to have their wives talked about as
freely as yours was from the pulpit this morning. I tell you, Dr.
Matthews, that he meant _me_, and I know it, and I don't mean to
stand it, if you do."

"How will you help it?" the doctor