"MRS. TUDOR is a perfect lady," said my wife, Mrs. Sunderland, to me
one day, after having received a visit from the individual she
named.

"She may have the manners of a lady," I replied, "when abroad; but
whether she be a lady at home or not, is more than I can tell. It is
easy to put on the exterior of a lady; but to be a lady is a very
different thing."

"All that is true enough; but why do you connect such remarks with
the name of Mrs. Tudor? Do you know any thing to the contrary of her
being a lady?--a lady at home, as you say, for instance?"

"No, I can't say that I do; but, somehow or other, I am a little
inclined to be doubtful of the genuineness of Mrs. Tudor's claims to
being a lady. Once or twice I have thought that I perceived an air
of superciliousness to persons who were considered inferior. This is
a rigid but true test of any one's claims to being either a lady or
a gentleman. No true lady is less careful of the feelings of those
below her than she is of those who are upon an equality."

"But you only thought you saw this," said Mrs. Sunderland.

"True, and my thought may be only a thought," I returned, "and
unjust to Mrs. Tudor, who may be as much of a lady at home and under
all circumstances, as she appears to be when abroad."

"What she is, I have not the least doubt," said my wife.