that sallow skin and
no feature except her eyes; but her husband, who was a great swell in
New York, and often takes her there, is quite devoted to her, and they
have a house on Nob Hill and another in Menlo Park. She is so exclusive
that it is a wonder she ever condescends to dine in a restaurant; but
Mr. Trennahan is a fearfully high liver, and this kitchen is famous.
Mrs. Trennahan's mother, Mrs. Yorba, who led society in the Eighties,
had only ninety people on her visiting list, and they say that her
parties were the dullest ever given in San Francisco. Of course that was
before I was born. The glory of that prehistoric crowd has departed, in
spite of the fact that a few of them--not many--have kept their
fortunes--and they are nothing to the new ones. The Irish and Germans
are on top now and are just ruling things--people whose very names our
mothers never heard, although they were making their piles without
saying much about it. They have come forward in the last five or six
years with a rush. All the old leaders are dead, and their children
don't seem to care much--just stand aside and put on airs. One of the
new leaders has a brogue. And as for Mrs. Hofer--take a good look at
her."

Paula indicated a tall superbly proportioned young woman in a simple
Parisian black gown and an immense black hat with a cascade of white
feathers rolling over the brim; she had a round laughing face and an air
of indescribable buoyancy. "She was born and brought up south of Market
Street, in the respectable part, but a dead give away in her generation:
she's only twenty-six. I forget what her old peasant grandfather started
life as, a peddler, probably, but afterwards he had a dry-goods store,
or shoes or something, and he bought real estate, and his son improved
it, so now they are rich. She was educated at the public schools, went
to the University for a year, had two more in Europe, and came back with
what they call presence and style, but is just cheek dressed up. She
hadn't much show socially, but she didn't lose any time capturing
Nicolas Hofer, the son of a German emigrant, who made money in the
commission business which his sons have turned into millions. All the
men like him, and as he was a great catch, of course he went everywhere;
and when he married they had to accept his wife. She did the rest, and
no one can deny that she is smart--in our sense and yours! She is a
leader already, and has a perfectly wonderful house, t