"I've been meaning to come for some time," Mrs. Holm Boddy said, "but I
thought I'd give you a chance to get a little used to your new grandeur.
Quite a change for you, isn't it?"
"No," said Warble, "it's rather a come down. I've always been very grand.
Tell me about yourself."
"Oh, I'm the old-fashioned wife and mother. Devoted to my home, and my
family. I deplore the modern tendency to neglect one's own fireside."
"Yes, I should think you'd be happier there than anywhere else."
Warble gazed at her guest. She was a tall, angular woman, so gaunt that
her bones rattled. Warble wondered if Bill would really like her to be
like that.
"Oh, I am. My dear husband, my darling children--you ought to have a
lot of children, Mrs. Petticoat."
"Yes, I shall, when we can afford it. My husband isn't very well off just
now, you see."
"You live very extravagantly. Look at those rugs, now. Rugs cost
fearfully."
"Don't you have any?"
"Oh, no. We don't waste money that way."
"Bare floors?"
"No, carpets. More homey, you know. Nice Brussels in the parlor--real Body
Brussels--Bigelow--and in the bedrooms, Ingrain. Oh, the hominess of a
new-laid Ingrain carpet, with lots of fresh straw under it! You acquainted
with Avery Goodman, the Rector?"
"I've met him.
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