which he had duly recorded in public.
That record had yet to receive another name--and yet another.

His wife, who had seemed to begin by bracing herself to stand against
him, now seemed to have braced herself to stand with him--perhaps a more
commendable wifely attitude. I mean that the discipline incident to a
life of success which was not without its rigors had become to her
almost a second nature. The order of the day was cooeperation, team-work;
in the grand advance she was no straggler, no malingerer. It was a
matter of pride to keep step with him; she was now beyond the fear which
possibly for the first few years had troubled her--the fear that he, by
word, or look, or even by silence, might hint to her that she was not
fully "keeping up." Johnny himself was now rather heavy; for the regimen
which they were pursuing he had the strength that insured against any
loss of flesh through tax on the nerves. His wife, for her part, looked
rather lean--trained, even trained down. As the wife of Raymond, she
would probably have lapsed by now into pinguitude and sloth--unless
discontent and exasperation had prevented.

After showing us the private grandeurs of their own estate, they
motored us to the cooerdinated splendors of their club. It had been a
good club--one of the best of its kind--from the start, and now it had
grown bigger and better. Its arcaded porches and its verandas were wide;
its links showed the hand of the expert, yet also the sensitive touch of
the landscape gardener; an orchestra of greater size and merit than is
common in such heedless gatherings played for itself if not for the
gossiping, stirring throng; and people talked golf-jargon (for which I
don't care) and polo (of which I know even less). Though the day was one
in the relatively early spring, things were "going"; temporary backsets
would doubtless ensue--meanwhile get the good out of a clear, fair
afternoon, if but a single one.

Through all this gay stir the McComases contrived to make themselves
duly felt. Johnny himself was one of the governors, I gathered; as such
he took part in a small, hurried confab in the smoking-room. Whether or
not there was a point in dispute, I do not know; but when he rose and
led me forth with his curved palm under my elbow the matter had been
settled his way, and no ill-feeling left: rather, as I sensed it, a
feeling of relief that some one had promptly and energetically laid a
moot question for once and all.