"Now, if he were a girl débutante, just being introduced, why—— There! It's the very thing for him! Give him a coming-out party."
"I'm afraid he wouldn't endure it," said Mary. "He's terribly afraid of being mistaken for what he calls Rollo boys. If I planned a coming out party he'd probably disappear for a month. The very name would make him explode."
"Don't call it by that name," said Nell. "Don't call it any name particularly. Just have a party; at the house, of course. Invite all the nice people you can get hold of. Let's see; there ought to be some particular reason for the party. I've got it! He's about to make a tour of the world, having finished his studies at college. This gives him an opportunity to meet and entertain his friends before he starts, and also furnishes something for everybody to talk about."
Mary nodded as she listened. The idea sounded promising. But——
"Who will we invite, Nell?"
"His friends, of course."
"I'm afraid his friends are not in society," sighed Mary, as the vision of a tin ear flashed into her mind.
"Then his aunt's friends. She must know a lot of society people."
"I don't think she has kept up her acquaintances."
"That won't make a particle of difference, my dear. Miss Caroline Marshall bears a name that will get her anywhere she wants to go. And it will do as much for her nephew, too. It's a key that will open any society lock; don't worry about that. Why, you could invite people that Miss Marshall never met, and nine out of ten of them would jump at the chance. Give him a party and it can't fail."