"I heard he was going to be married. I heard that a great while ago."
"Yes, he has made a very great match. It has been delayed by the death of her mother; they had to wait. He was married a few months ago, in Florence. They had a splendid wedding."
"What makes what you call a 'great match'?" Madge asked.
"Money,—and family."
"I understand money," Madge went on; "but what do you mean by 'family,'
Mrs. Wishart?"
"My dear, if you lived in the world, you would know. It means name, and position, and standing. I suppose at Shampuashuh you are all alike—one is as good as another."
"Indeed," said Madge, "you are much mistaken, Mrs. Wishart. We think one is much better than another."
"Do you? Ah well,—then you know what I mean, my dear. I suppose the world is really very much alike in all places; it is only the names of things that vary."
"In Shampuashuh," Madge went on, "we mean by a good family, a houseful of honest and religious people."
"Yes, Madge," said Lois, looking up, "we mean a little more than that. We mean a family that has been honest and religious, and educated too, for a long while—for generations. We mean as much as that, when we speak of a good family."