here was a shade of haughtiness in Selma's greeting. She was
prepared to respect her husband's policy and to ignore the circumstances
under which they had parted, but she wished Flossy to understand that
this was an act of condescension on her part as a Congressman's wife,
whose important social status was beyond question. She was so thoroughly
imbued with this sense of her indisputable superiority that she readily
mistook Flossy's affability for fawning; whereas that young woman's
ingenuous friendliness was the result of a warning sentence from Gregory
when Selma and her husband were seen approaching--"Keep a check on your
tongue, Floss. This statesman with a beard like a goat is likely to have
a political future."

"I felt sure it was you the other day," Flossy said with smiling
sprightliness, "but I had not heard of your marriage to Mr. Lyons."

"We were married at Benham six weeks ago. We are to live in Benham. We
have bought the house there which belonged to Mr. Parsons. We have just
returned from visiting the superb scenery of the Yosemite and the Rocky
Mountains, and it made me prouder than ever of my country. If
Congressman Lyons had not been obliged to be present at the opening of
Congress, we should have spent our honeymoon in Europe."

"Gregory and I passed last summer abroad yachting. We crossed on a
steamer and had our yacht meet us there. Isn't it a jam to-night?"

"There seem to be a great many people. I suppose you came on from New
York on purpose for this reception?"

"Mercy, no. We are staying with friends, and we hadn't intended to come
to-night. But we had been dining out and were dressed, so we thought
we'd drop in and show our patriotism. It's destruction to clothes, and
I'm glad I haven't worn my best."

Selma perceived Flossy's eye making a note of her own elaborate costume,
and the disagreeable suspicion that she was overdressed reasserted
itself. She had already observed that Mrs. Williams's toilette, though
stylish, was comparatively simple. How could one be overdressed on such
an occasion? What more suitable time for an American woman to wear her
choicest apparel than when paying her respects to the President of the
United States? She noticed that Flossy seemed unduly at her ease as
though the importance of the ceremony was lost on her, and that they
group of people with whom Flossy had been talking and who stood a little
apart were obviously indulging in quiet mirth at the expense of so