he prominence of his Uncle William's wife had not
seemed to him a matter of importance. His acquaintance with that lady
was indeed slight, and he did not see at once wherein Phil's aunts had
anything to gain by cultivating her society, nor did Phil enlighten him.
This turn of the talk embarrassed him by its suggestion of the escapade
in which Phil's mother and his uncle had figured. Phil was not
apparently troubled by this.

"They didn't invite you to my party, did they?"

He did not know exactly whom she meant by "they"; and he had not heard
of Phil's party.

"No," he answered, smiling; "they probably never heard of me."

"Well, you will be invited. Your brother and sister are coming. Your
brother Charlie told me so. He's going to give up a trip to New York
just to be there."

Phil, he reflected, had been pleased by Charles's magnanimity in
changing plans that embraced the magical name of New York to be present
at her coming-out party. From his knowledge of his brother he felt quite
sure that Charles must think it worth while to abandon the visit to New
York to pay the tribute of his presence to a daughter of the
Montgomerys. This contributed to Fred's discomfiture and made it more
difficult to talk to Phil. On the face of it Phil was not a difficult
person. He had seen her dance round a corn-shock in the moonlight, and a
girl who would do that ought to be easy to talk to; and he had seen her,
aproned at her kitchen door, throw an apple at a cat with enviable
exactness of aim, and a girl who threw apples at cats should be human
and approachable. It must be her smart city frock that made the
difference: he hated Phil's clothes, and he resented with particular
animosity the gloves that concealed her hands.

She saw the frown on his face.

"I don't believe I heard you say whether you were coming to my party or
not. If you expect to travel about that time you needn't put yourself
out, of course. You shall have one of our regular engraved invitations.
How do you get mail out here?" she ended practically.

"R.F.D. 7. It will be thrilling to get something out of that bird's nest
besides bills, fertilizer and incubator circulars, and the bulletins of
the Department of Agriculture. Thank you very much. But if, after
conferring with your aunts, you find that they don't approve of me, it
will be all right."

"You have funny thoughts in your head, don't you? Don't you suppose I'm
going to have something to say about my