na, Mrs. Dressel's friend
Miss Brent----"

Near the brilliantly-striped marquee that formed the axis of the Gaines
garden-parties, Mr. Halford Gaines, a few paces from his wife and
daughters, stood radiating a royal welcome on the stream of visitors
pouring across the lawn. It was only to eyes perverted by a different
social perspective that there could be any doubt as to the importance
of the Gaines entertainments. To Hanaford itself they were epoch-making;
and if any rebellious spirit had cherished a doubt of the fact, it would
have been quelled by the official majesty of Mr. Gaines's frock-coat and
the comprehensive cordiality of his manner.

There were moments when New York hung like a disquieting cloud on the
social horizon of Mrs. Gaines and her daughters; but to Halford Gaines
Hanaford was all in all. As an exponent of the popular and patriotic
"good-enough-for-me" theory he stood in high favour at the Hanaford
Club, where a too-keen consciousness of the metropolis was alternately
combated by easy allusion and studied omission, and where the unsettled
fancies of youth were chastened and steadied by the reflection that, if
Hanaford was good enough for Halford Gaines, it must offer opportunities
commensurate with the largest ideas of life.

Never did Mr. Gaines's manner bear richer witness to what could be
extracted from Hanaford than when he was in the act of applying to it
the powerful pressure of his hospitality. The resultant essence was so
bubbling with social exhilaration that, to its producer at any rate, its
somewhat mixed ingredients were lost in one highly flavoured draught.
Under ordinary circumstances no one discriminated more keenly than Mr.
Gaines between different shades of social importance; but any one who
was entertained by him was momentarily ennobled by the fact, and not all
the anxious telegraphy of his wife and daughters could, for instance,
recall to him that the striking young woman in Mrs. Dressel's wake was
only some obscure protegee, whom it was odd of Effie to have brought,
and whose presence was quite unnecessary to emphasize.

"Juliana, Miss Brent tells me she has never seen our roses. Oh, there
are other roses in Hanaford, Miss Brent; I don't mean to imply that no
one else attempts them; but unless you can afford to give _carte
blanche_ to your man--and mine happens to be something of a
specialist...well, if you'll come with me, I'll let them speak for
themselves. I always say tha