“Mr. Mullett? Why, he’s one of the Brookline Mulletts,” his mother said. “Why?”
“Is he an animal man?”
“No; he sells insurance.”
“He seems popular.”
“Oh, he has some parlor tricks.”
“I beg pardon, mother? The allusion escapes me.”
“Parlor tricks,” repeated his mother. “He imitates a trained seal; it appears to strike the younger people as excessively comical. I believe he can also swallow a lighted cigaret.”
Hervey emitted a polite moan.
“Must one do parlor tricks?”
“They have their uses,” said his mother.