parson, even so presentable a parson as Mr. Holland. Oh, of course I
wrote you the usual exuberant letter--what would be the good of doing
anything else? But now that he has become famous--Oh, I want you to
bring him with you to my first At Home--Tuesday week. It's very short
notice, I know, but you must come, and bring him. You are both certain
to be in great demand. Why do you shake your head that way? You need not
say that you are engaged for Tuesday week."

"I will not say that I am engaged at all, in any sense," said Phyllis,
with a very shallow laugh, at laugh that sounded like a ripple among
pebbles; her usual laugh was like a ripple upon a silver sand.

"In any sense--for Tuesday week?"

Ella raised her eyebrows to the extent of the eighth of an inch. She
lowered them in a moment, however, for the tea was being brought in.
It required two able-bodied men (in plush) to carry in a dainty
little silver tray, with a little silver tea-pot of a pattern that
silversmiths, for reasons which have never been fully explained, call
"Queen Anne." One of the men, however, devoted himself to the care of
the hot cakes of various subtle types which were inclosed in silver
covered dishes.

With the lowering of her eyebrows Mrs. Linton's voice lost its previous
inflection.

"I have been fortunate enough to hit upon something distinctly new in
that way"--she indicated the muffin dishes. "A cake that may be eaten
hot without removing one's gloves."