"But why this miserable economy? your husband's pay, your own fortune——"
"Yes, yes," interrupted Mrs. Brander, "but there are plenty of calls on one's purse, besides spending money on chiffons."
"Are there? I don't think a woman can invest her coin to better advantage than in making herself a pleasure to behold."
"And you would still be that, even if you wore nothing but a blanket and a string of beads."
This verdict was all the more flattering because unwillingly bestowed.
"Really, Nancy," and the beauty laughed, "I hope I may not be reduced to a single garment!—but one never can tell. I am over head and ears in debt."
"And yet you spend ninety guineas at one swoop!"
"Yes, my dear,—debt is like drink. You go on, and on, and on. The more you spend—the more you drink—the tighter the thing takes hold of you! By the way, I was really forgetting something I wanted to ask. What do you think of him?"
"Him?" repeated Mrs. Brander, "which him? We have so many hims this evening, hims ancient and modern!"
"Don't be silly. I mean the nice boy that sat between us at dinner, and by the way, darling, you poached shamelessly!"