in the best of taste. If
they erred at all it was on the side of simplicity; and yet that gives
you a wrong idea about the ball, because it really could boast of
splendor. Yes, I mean it, but of a solid, real kind. There is nothing
papier mache about the Makeway house; nor about its owners, nor about
their entertainment. You can't help but believe this, and it gives you
a sense of social security! Everyone anyone would want in their house
was there. If any line was drawn tightly inside the smart circle, it
defined the pseudo-declasse. Mrs. Makeway might be described in England
as a slightly early-Victorian hostess, or if our presidents had at all
the position and social power of royalties, she would be ticketed
perhaps as of the Hayes period, except that would imply "Total
Abstinence," which would mean instant death to anyone in smart society,
thank goodness! I suppose you've heard that old _mot_ of the dinners at
the White House during the Hayes administration, that water flowed like
champagne! Well, that will never be said of the Makeways. Their wine
was the very best, too; I never had better at any party, seldom as
good, and even John, who scoffs at the idea of women being a judge of
wines, confesses, that, though we've entertained everybody all our
lives, we've never had such a good wine inside our doors. The supper
was, in the first place, comfortable, and, in the second place,
faultless. (There was a queer kind of game, which I loathed, but of
course I knew, whatever it was, under the circumstances it was the
right thing, so I choked it down.) The music was superb--all the good
Hungarian orchestras in town. The cotillon favors were lovely, and some
very stunning gold and jeweled things from Tiffany's must have cost a
fortune.

But of course what you want to know about most is the people and what
they had on. I wore my--but you'll see my dress in Florida, so never
mind. Mrs. Makeway had a superb dress, but she always dresses
handsomely. What a nice man Mr. Makeway is. You felt sure he was bored
to death by the party, and all of us at it, but he concealed it with
such charming manners and such natural courtesy that you really felt
somehow it was a pleasure to come and put him out. The daughter is a
great success; there's no denying that. She has a perfect figure, and
is very graceful. She seems to have her father's manners, brought up to
date by her mother. She's going to be a leader, you can tell that, and
apparen