ather's temper.

Don Roberto had been a handsome caballero in his youth, but his face,
like that of most Californians, had coarsened as it receded from its
prime. The nose was thick, the outlines of the jaw lost in rolls of
flesh. But the full curves of his mouth had been compressed into a
straight line, and the consequent elevation of the lower lip had almost
obliterated an originally weak chin. He was bald and wore a skull-cap,
but his black eyes were fiery and restless, his skin fair with the
fairness of Castile. He went to his room, and Magdalena did not see him
again until dinner was announced. She saw little of her parents. There
is not much fireside life in California. There was none in the Yorba
household. Mrs. Yorba was a martyr to neuralgia, and such time as was
not passed in the seclusion of her chamber was devoted to the manifold
cares of her household and to her small circle of friends. Don Roberto
would not permit her to belong to charitable associations, nor to
organisations of any kind, and although she regretted the prestige she
might have enjoyed as president of such concerns, she had long since
found herself indemnified: Don Roberto's social restrictions had
unwittingly given her the position of the most exclusive woman in San
Francisco. As time went on, it gave people a certain distinction to be
on her visiting list. When Mrs. Yorba realised this, she looked it over
carefully and cut it down to ninety names. After that, hostesses whose
position was as secure as her own begged her personally to go to their
balls. Her own yearly contribution to the season's socialities was
looked forward to with deep anxiety. It was the stiffest and dullest
affair of the year, but not to be there was to be written down as second
of the first. So was greatness thrust upon Mrs. Yorba, who never
returned to her native Boston, lest she might once more feel the pangs
of nothingness. She loved her daughter from a sense of duty rather than
from any animal instinct, but never petted nor made a companion of her.
Nevertheless she watched over her studies, literary excursions, and
associates with a vigilant eye.

Magdalena's companions were the objects of her severe maternal care.
Once a year in town and once during the summer in Menlo Park, Magdalena
had a luncheon party, the guests chosen from the very inner circle of
Mrs. Yorba's acquaintance. The youngsters loathed this function, but
were forced to attend by their distinguis