“Ruth, darling!”
“Ethel! I have just sent for you to come home.” Then she rose and took Ethel in her arms. “How delightfully cold you are! And what rosy cheeks! Do you know that we have a little dinner party?”
“Mr. Mostyn?”
“Yes, and your grandmother, and perhaps Dr. Fisher—the Doctor is not certain.”
“And I see that you are already dressed. How handsome you look! That black lace dress, with the dull gold ornaments, is all right.”
“I felt as if jewels would be overdress for a family dinner.”
“Yes, but jewels always snub men so completely. It is not altogether that they represent money; they give an air of royalty, and a woman without jewels is like an uncrowned queen—she does not get the homage. I can’t account for it, but there it is. I shall wear my sapphire necklace. What did father say about our new kinsman?”
“Very little. It was impossible to judge from his words what he thought. I fancied that he might have been a little disappointed.”
“I should not wonder. We shall see.”
“You will be dressed in an hour?”