creature!"

"But, dear Duchess," pursued Garth persuasively, "if the county
did not know, the county will not be disappointed. They are coming
to listen to one another, and to hear themselves, and to enjoy your
claret-cup and ices. All this they will do, and go away delighted,
saying how cleverly the dear duchess, discovers and exploits local
talent."

"Ah, ha!" said the duchess, with a gleam in the hawk eye, and a
raising of the hooked nose-which Mrs. Parker Bangs of Chicago, who
had met the duchess once or twice, described as "genuine
Plantagenet"--"but they will go away wise in their own conceits, and
satisfied with their own mediocre performances. My idea is to let
them do it, and then show them how it should be done."

"But Aunt 'Gina," said Jane, gently; "surely you forget that most of
these people have been to town and heard plenty of good music,
Madame Velma herself most likely, and all the great singers. They
know they cannot sing like a prima donna; but they do their anxious
best, because you ask them. I cannot see that they require an object
lesson"

"Jane," said the duchess, "for the third time this afternoon I must
request you not to argue."

"Miss Champion," said Garth Dalmain, "if I were your grandmamma, I
should send you to bed."

"What is to be done?" reiterated the duchess. "She was to sing THE