XXV

In which the Name of Heth is lifted beyond the Reach of
Hateful Malice, and Mamma wishes that she had the Ten
Thousand back again.

Mrs. Heth returned from the Settlement "opening" a full hour behind
Carlisle, and in a victorious glow such as she had not known since May.
Doing good for cause, she was not one to blush too much to find it fame.
Having notified Mr. Byrd of her ten thousand dollar gift to the
Foundation Fund, she had proceeded with her tidings to others of the
authorities, and presently met with appreciation in proportion to the
funds involved. Director Pond, a decisive and forthright man, had stood
upon a chair and cried the splendid donation to the assembled company,
his obvious moral being that others similarly prospered by the Lord
should go and do likewise. So had come vindicatory advertisement
gorgeous beyond the little lady's dreams.

It was well that the world should mark this gift, for it had not been
made by the mere scratching of a signature. And the colloquies preceding
it had been of a thoroughly typical sort, compressing in a nutshell a
whole history, in fact the whole history, of the domestico-commerical
relationships of rising Houses. Settlementers might have applauded more
heartily had they understood just what a deep-cutting business they were
witnessing. However, they did not understand this, and Mrs. Heth, for
her part, was the last person in the world to moralize upon the
non-essential. Returning homeward through the night, rolling eclat
beneath her tongue, she frankly reflected that it was worth the money.
The envious would hardly be able to conceive that people who gave so
magnificently to charity could have done anything really deserving of
censure; no, no. Or, if such people imaginably had, then certainly the
only thing to do was to forget all about it as quickly as possible....

So agreeably musing, Mrs. Heth arrived at the door of the House, and
received upon the threshold the great surprise of her life.

It was almost seven o'clock, so long had she lingered to enjoy and
capitalize the reverberations of her triumph. Yet Carlisle, singularly
enough, was discovered standing in the hall, still in her hat and
gloves, just as she had left the reception an hour earlier.

Full as Mrs. Heth was of her own engrossing thoughts, her daughter's
expression at once notified her that she, too, had news of some sort to
communicate.

"Well, Carlisle? What're you.... W