what time they attended parties, but there were two or three notable
exceptions, and those the lady had been anxious to claim.

Prominent among them had been the Erskines, it never seeming to occur to
Mrs. Westervelt's brains that there could be other excuse found for not
accepting her invitation save the meetings that Ruth had taken to
attending in such a frantic manner. Let me say, in passing, that neither
Ruth Erskine nor her father honored the invitation; they had other
matters to attend to.

Meantime, Flossy Shipley, had utterly disgusted her mother, and almost
offended her father, by giving a peremptory and persistent refusal. Such
a storm of talk as there had been over this matter almost exhausted the
strength of poor little Flossy, who did not like argument, and who yet
could persist in a most unaccountable firm manner when occasion
required.

"Such an absurd idea!" her sister Kitty said, flashing contemptuous
eyes on her. "I wonder what you think is going to become of you, Flossy?
Do you mean to mope at home all the rest of the winter? I assure you
that Mrs. Westervelt is not the only one who intends to give a party. We
are going to have an unusually gay season to revive us after so much
bell-tolling. Don't you mean to appear anywhere? You might as well
retire into a convent at once, if that is the case."

"People will be saying of me, as they do of Mrs. Treslam, soon, that I
do not allow you to appear in society while Kitty is still a young
lady." This Mrs. Shipley said, and her tone, if not as sharp as Kitty's,
had a note of grievance in it that was hard to bear.

Then Charlie had taken up the theme: "What is the use in turning mope,
Sis? I'm sure you can be as good as you like, and go to a party
occasionally."

"I don't mean to mope, Charlie," Flossy said, trying to speak
cheerfully, but there were tears in her eyes and a tremulous sound in
her voice. "I am truly happier at home than I am at those places; I
don't like to go. It is not entirely because I feel I ought not; it is
because I don't want to."

"She has risen above such follies," Kitty said, and it is impossible to
tell you what a disagreeable inflection there was to her voice. "Mother,
I am sorry that the poor child has to associate with such volatile
creatures as you and I. She ought to have some kindred spirit."

"I am sure I don't know where she will find any," Mrs. Shipley said,
with a sigh, "outside of that trio of girls, who among t