until her consent was
gained; and such a supposition would not place him in a very honorable
light.

The interview terminated in a decided victory for Mrs. Filmer, and
there was something very like a tear in Harry's eyes when he left his
mother with a straight assurance of his continued help and sympathy.
At the door he turned back and kissed her again; and then she went
with him as far as the room which was being prepared for dancing. But
she did not ask him to stay with her; she knew better than to push an
advantage too far, and was wise enough to know that when necessary
words have been spoken and accepted further exhortation is a kind of
affront.

At lunch time the subject was totally ignored. Mr. Filmer came out of
his study, apparently for the very purpose of being excessively
pleasant to Harry, and of giving his wife anxious warnings about
exhausting herself, and overdoing hospitality, "which, by-the-by," he
added, "is as bad a thing as underdoing it. Two days hence, you will
not be able to forgive Emma Filmer for the trouble she has taken," he
said.

"I hope we have not annoyed you much, Henry."

"I have calmly borne the upset, because I know this entertainment will
be the first and the last of the series."

He spoke to hearts already conscious; and Rose said petulantly, "The
ball will, of course, be a failure; we have bespoken failure by
anticipating it."

"I never really wanted it, Rose," said Harry.

"That is understandable," she retorted. "Yanna does not dance; neither
does she approve of dancing. But all the sensible people are not
Puritans, thank heaven! What are such ideas doing in an enlightened
age? They ought to be buried with all other fossils of dead thought;
and----"

"You are going too fast, Rose," corrected Mr. Filmer. "You may scoff
at Puritanism, but it is the highest form of life ever yet assumed by
the world. Emma, my dear, if that tap, tap, tapping could be arrested
this afternoon I should be grateful." Then he bowed to his family, and
went back to the Middle Ages.

They watched his exit silently, and with admiration, and after it Rose
sought the dressmaker, who in some upper chamber was composing a gown
she meant to be astonishing and decisive; one that it would be
impossible to imitate, or to criticise. Mrs. Filmer, knowing the value
of that little sleep which ought to divide the morning from the
afternoon, went into seclusion to accept it. Harry wandered about the
piazzas sm