Margaret, hanging over the back of her chair, was an attentive listener.
"But people—people in town have children!" she said. "The Blankenships have one, and haven't the de Normandys?"
"The Blankenship boy is in college," said Mrs. Carr-Boldt; "and the little de Normandys lived with their grandmother until they were old enough for boarding school."
"Well, the Deanes have three!" Margaret said triumphantly.
"Ah, well, my dear! Harry Deane's a rich man, and she was a Pell of Philadelphia," Mrs. Crawford supplied promptly. "Now the Eastmans have three, too, with a trained nurse apiece."
"I see," Margaret admitted slowly.
"Far wiser to have none at all," said Mrs. Carr-Boldt, in her decisive way, "than to handicap them from the start by letting them see other children enjoying pleasures and advantages they can't afford. And now, girls, let's stop wasting time. It's half-past eleven. Why can't we have a game of auction right here and now?"
Margaret returned to her cheque-book with speed. The other two, glad to be aroused, heartily approved the idea.
"Well, what does this very businesslike aspect imply?" Mrs. Carr-Boldt asked her secretary.
"It means that I can't play cards, and you oughtn't," Margaret said, laughing.