This time the visitors proved to be Eugenia and Alice, with the
first of whom the impulsive Ella was perfectly delighted, she was
so refined, so genteel, so richly dressed, and assumed withal such
a _patronizing_ air, that the shortsighted Ella felt rather
overawed, particularly when she spoke of her "uncle in India,"
with whom she was "_such_ a favorite." During their stay,
_servants_ were introduced as a topic of conversation, and on
that subject Eugenia was quite as much at home as Mrs. Hastings,
descanting at large upon the many annoyances one was compelled to
endure, both from the "ignorance and impertinence of hired help."
Once or twice, too, the words "my waiting-maid" escaped her lips,
and when at last she took her leave, she had the satisfaction of
knowing that Mrs. Hastings was duly impressed with a sense of her
importance.

"Such charming people I never expected to find in the country, and
so elegantly dressed too," thought Ella, as from her window she
watched them walking slowly down the long avenue. "That silk of
Miss Eugenia's could not have cost less than two dollars a yard,
and her hands, too, were as soft and white as mine. They must be
wealthy--those Deanes: I wonder if they ever give any parties."

And then, as she remembered sundry gossamer fabrics which were
dignified by the title of party dresses, and which, with many
tears, she had folded away as something she should never need in
the country, she exclaimed aloud, "Why, can't _I_ have a
party here as well as at home? The house is a great deal larger
than the long narrow thing on which mama prides herself so much.
And then it will be such fun to show off before the country