"Nobody could make fun of him," she said quietly.

"Why couldn't they?"

"It wouldn't make him funny: it would only make themselves silly."

Upon this, George had a gleam of intelligence. "Well, I'm not going
to make myself silly any more, then; I don't want to take chances like
that with you. But I thought he was the Sharon girls' uncle. He came
with them--"

"Yes," she said, "I'm always late to everything: I wouldn't let them
wait for me. We're visiting the Sharons."

"About time I knew that! You forget my being so fresh about your
father, will you? Of course he's a distinguished looking man, in a
way."

Lucy was still serious. "In a way?'" she repeated. "You mean, not in
your way, don't you?"

George was perplexed. "How do you mean: not in my way?"

"People pretty often say 'in a way' and 'rather distinguished
looking,' or 'rather' so-and-so, or 'rather' anything, to show that
they're superior don't they? In New York last month I overheard a
climber sort of woman speaking of me as 'little Miss Morgan,' but she
didn't mean my height; she meant that she was important. Her husband
spoke of a friend of mine as 'little Mr. Pembroke' and 'little Mr.
Pembroke' is six-feet-three. This husband and wife were really so