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ume too much time,' Amy replied, her explanation just as much of an impromptu as the announcement had been. 'You see, one must either belong to society or not. Married people can't accept an occasional invitation from friends and never do their social duty in return. We have decided to withdraw altogether--at all events for the present. I shall see no one except my relatives.' Edith listened with a face of astonishment. 'You won't even see ME?' she exclaimed. 'Indeed, I have no wish to lose your friendship. Yet I am ashamed to ask you to come here when I can never return your visits.' 'Oh, please don't put it in that way! But it seems so very strange.' Edith could not help conjecturing the true significance of this resolve. But, as is commonly the case with people in easy circumstances, she found it hard to believe that her friends were so straitened as to have a difficulty in supporting the ordinary obligations of a civilised state. 'I know how precious your husband's time is,' she added, as if to remove the effect of her last remark. 'Surely, there's no harm in my saying--we know each other well enough--you wouldn't think it necessary to devote an evening to entertaining us just because you had given us the pleasure of your company. I put it very stupidly, but I'm sure you understand me, Amy. Don't refuse just to come to our house now and then.' 'I'm afraid we shall have to be consistent, Edith.' 'But do you think this is a WISE thing to do?' 'Wise?' 'You know what you once told me, about how necessary it was for a novelist to study all sorts of people. How can Mr Reardon do this if he shuts himself up in the house? I should have thought he would find it necessary to make new acquaintances.' 'As I said,' returned Amy, 'it won't be always like this. For the present, Edwin has quite enough "material."' She spoke distantly; it irritated her to have to invent excuses for the sacrifice she had just imposed on herself. Edith sipped the tea which had been offered her, and for a minute kept silence. 'When will Mr Reardon's next book be published?' she asked at length. 'I'm sure I don't know. Not before the spring.' 'I shall look so anxiously for it. Whenever I meet new people I always turn the conversation to novels, just for the sake of asking them if they know your husband's books.' She laughed merrily. 'Which is seldom the case, I should think,' said Amy, with a smile of indifferenc
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