their kinswoman's
enthusiastic account of the commencement exercises. Mrs. Owen had, it
appeared, looked upon Smith and Mount Holyoke also on this eastward
flight, and these inspections, mentioned in the most casual manner, did
not contribute to Mrs. Bassett's happiness.

Finding that her father was inaccessible by telephone, Marian summoned
Harwood and demanded tickets for the convention; she would make an
occasion of it, and Mrs. Owen and Sylvia should go with them. Mrs.
Bassett and her family had always enjoyed the freedom of Mrs. Owen's
house; it was disheartening to find Sylvia established in Delaware
Street on like terms of intimacy. The old heartache over Marian's
indifference to the call of higher education for women returned with a
new poignancy as Mrs. Bassett inspected Sylvia's diploma, as proudly
displayed by Mrs. Owen as though it marked the achievement of some near
and dear member of the family. Sylvia's undeniable good looks, her
agreeable manner, her ready talk, and the attention she received from
her elders, were well calculated to arm criticism in a prejudiced heart.
On the evening of their arrival Admiral and Mrs. Martin and the Reverend
John Ware had called, and while Mrs. Bassett assured herself that these
were, in a sense, visits of condolence upon Andrew Kelton's
granddaughter, the trio, who were persons of distinction, had seemed
sincerely interested in Mrs. Owen's protegee. Mrs. Bassett was obliged
to hear a lively dialogue between the minister and Sylvia touching some
memory of his first encounter with her about the stars. He brought her
as a "commencement present" Bacon's "Essays." People listened to Sylvia;
Sylvia had things to say! Even the gruff admiral paid her deference. He
demanded to know whether it was true that Sylvia had declined a position
at the Naval Observatory, which required the calculation of tides for
the Nautical Almanac. Mrs. Bassett was annoyed that Sylvia had refused a
position that would have removed her from a proximity to Mrs. Owen that
struck her as replete with danger. And yet Mrs. Bassett was outwardly
friendly, and she privately counseled Marian, quite unnecessarily, to be
"nice" to Sylvia. On the same evening Mrs. Bassett was disagreeably
impressed by Harwood's obvious rubrication in Mrs. Owen's good books.
It seemed darkly portentous that Dan was, at Mrs. Owen's instigation,
managing Sylvia's business affairs; she must warn her husband against
this employment of