"Were you?"
"Yes. There was a ball over to Crampton. I go to all the balls within ten miles. They can't do without me."
"Can't they?" asked Walter, not knowing what else to say.
"No. You see there isn't much style at these country balls,—I mean among the young men. They don't know how to dress. Now I give my mind to it, and they try to imitate me. I don't trust any tailor entirely. I just tell him what I want, and how I want it. Higgins, the tailor here, has improved a good deal since he began to make clothes for me."
"Indeed!"
"Where do you have your clothes made?"
"In Willoughby. That's where I have always lived till I came here."
"Is there a good tailor there?"
"I think so; but then I am not much of a judge."