"A very good suggestion," replied Mrs. Tweedie, who was feeling amiable enough at that moment even to agree with one whom she disliked. The ladies murmured their approval. "The chair awaits suggestions," continued Mrs. Tweedie. Upon that they, the suggestions, came like an avalanche—everything was proposed from a spelling-match to military whist. But Mrs. Tweedie frowned upon them all; only something new to Manville would suit her. She desired above all things to get as far away as possible from the provincial ways of the town.
"Whatever we give will cost something," remarked Mrs. Darling.
"We can't spend any money if we haven't got any," squeaked the deacon's wife.
"Assuredly not," replied Mrs. Tweedie. "The question is—"
"Why not settle this money business first," interrupted Mrs. Stout. "Mis' Darling says we've got to spend money whatever we do. I say we ain't, what we've got to buy we can get trusted for—everybody else does."
"Very true," said Mrs. Doctor Jones, warmly, "they do, and sometimes for a long time." The wives of the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker looked as though they would like to say "amen." Others moved uneasily, until Mrs. Tweedie came to the rescue.
"The question is," she said, firmly, "what sort of an entertainment shall be given, not how we are to pay for it."
"Madam President," some one said from a corner.
"Mrs.—er—" Mrs. Tweedie craned her neck to see who had spoken. "Oh, Mrs. Thornton."