"I ain't jolly enough.
"I'm only a honest wife, I am, what sits at 'ome all day an' tells the truth while other people makes theirselves ser popular. This world is no fit place for honest wives.
"The other ladies are ser jolly; they makes theirselves ser pleasant. They fuss about and flatter you, and laugh at all your jokes. They makes theirselves ser pleasant....
"What's a respectable married woman to do, Doctor?"
XXVIII
THE BLACK HAT
"What I like Banking Day for," James had privately informed me, "is because then Fatty always puts on a cap. He looks so plain and friendly in a cap."
At which I pondered deeply.
That which I pondered was the important problem of Dr. Brink in his relationship to moral authority and the top-hat.
I had to admit to myself that James's aphorism was justified by facts. The doctor did look more human in a cap. Upon the other hand, he did not in the least look like himself.