'I do not, indeed.'
'It means,' said Dane, 'in this country, all people in general who have incomes above a certain limit; them, and those whom their powerful hands lift from a subjacent platform to the freedom of their own.'
'All people who are rich enough to invite you as you invite them,' said Dr. Arthur.'Prim, where is your comprehension? How can you put your feet under a man's mahogany, if he happens to have none?'
'Is it different in other countries?' asked Mrs. Coles.
'Yes. Birth counts there, and breeding, and what a man happens to have inside his head.'
'And does not birth count for something here?' cried Mrs. Coles.
'I have no doubt it does.'
'But not with you?'
'I speak of things as I find them,' said Dane smiling slightly. 'And in generalities.'
'Well, think what you like of society; are you not going to regard it at all?'