"And you really think Mr. Thayer will sing for us?" Mrs. Lloyd Avalons went on, turning back to Beatrix. "It will be an advantage to him, in a way, to have sung under the auspices of our committee."
This time, even Beatrix felt herself antagonized. Thayer belonged to her own class, and her class was scarcely of the type to need the official social sanction of Mrs. Lloyd Avalons.
"I have no idea at all in regard to the matter," she answered a little coldly. "Mr. Thayer appears to me to be able to hold his own, without the backing of any committee. It simply depends upon his personal generosity."
"But it is such a worthy object. And don't you think we could get that little Arlt to fill in with?"
"From, by, in, or with charity, and to or for a charity?" Bobby asked savagely.
"Oh, of course, we couldn't pay him." There was a falling inflection of the last word.
"Then I should advise him to decline charity altogether," Bobby retorted.
"It would be an advantage to him to play on such a programme," Mrs. Lloyd Avalons asserted, as she set down her cup.
"It would also be an advantage to him to get a little money, now and then."
Mrs. Lloyd Avalons raised her brows. They were daintily-marked brows, and the expression suited her pretty, empty little face.