y Sarah!

"I changed it--Peregrine is so much more 'chic.' I'm teaching her French
myself; in a little while she'll pass as a French maid and she will have
all the plain common-sense of her Hoosier bringing-up which those
fly-by-night French maids don't. A _very_ good arrangement--_I_ think."

Thereafter, Peregrine, to the girls, was always Peregrine-Sarah.

Mrs. Westley, at dinner, looking down the table at the prim, sober faces
of her youngsters, had an irresistible desire to laugh. Graham's solemn
eyes were glued to his plate, Gyp, spotlessly groomed, spoke only in
hoarse whispers, Jerry looked a little frightened--what would she do if
the Duchess should speak to _her_. (Not that there was much danger; Aunt
Maria, except for a "from the wilds of our mountains, how interesting,"
had scarcely noticed her.) Isobel sat next to Aunt Maria and was
nervously attentive.

Aunt Maria was more "duchessy" than ever in her dinner dress. Jewels
shone in the great puff of snowy hair that lay like a crown about her
head. (Graham had always wanted to poke his finger into this marvel to
see if it would burst and flatten like a toy balloon.) Jewels shone in
the laces of her dress and on her fingers. She sat very straight, as
even a make-believe duchess should, and led the conversation. To do so
was very easy, for everyone agreed with everything she said, remarked
Isobel with pathetic enthusiasm. Behind her smile Mrs. Westley was
thinking that Maria Drinkwater was a very silly woman!

Aunt Maria spent most of her time berating the "government." That was
why, she explained, she was going to France. The officials in Washington
were just sitting there letting everything go to the dogs! "_Look_ at
the prices! We're being _robbed_ by Labor--actually robbed, every moment
of our lives!" She clasped her hands and rolled her eyes tragically
upward. "A crepe de chine chemise--hardly good enough for
Peregrine--_fifteen dollars_! And Congress just talking about the League
of Nations! Ah, mon Dieu!"

Graham, catching a fleeting glint of laughter in his mother's eyes,
slowly and solemnly winked, then dropped his glance back to his plate.

"Let's say we have to study," whispered Gyp to Jerry, when the family
moved toward the library. Even Graham welcomed the suggestion. As they
approached Aunt Maria to say good-night, she poked each in the cheek.

"Not going to wait to have coffee with us? _So_ sensible--it hurts the
complexion! _Nice_ childre