'My dear girl! Surely we have nothing to be ashamed of?'

'Of course not, Clarence. But--and "pleasant society." What about
that?'

'Your society is pleasant enough, I hope,' answered Mumford,
gracefully. 'And the Fentimans--'

This was the only family with whom they were intimate at Sutton.
Nice people; a trifle sober, perhaps, and not in conspicuously
flourishing circumstances; but perfectly presentable.

'I'm afraid--' murmured Emmeline, and stopped short. 'As you say,'
she added presently, 'this is someone very well off. "Terms not so
much a consideration"--'

'Well, I tell you what--there can be no harm in dropping a note. The
kind of note that commits one to nothing, you know. Shall I write
it, or will you?'

They concocted it together, and the rough draft was copied by
Emmeline. She wrote a very pretty hand, and had no difficulty
whatever about punctuation. A careful letter, calculated for the eye
of refinement; it supplied only the indispensable details of the
writer's position, and left terms for future adjustment.

'It's so easy to explain to people,' said Mumford, with an air of
satisfaction, when he came back from the post, 'that you wanted a
companion. As I'm quite sure you do. A friend coming to stay with
you for a time--that's how I should put it.'