I thought of that hour in the haymow, with Day and the others below, and Ferd dripping; and very quietly, so as not to waken my husband, I went into a paroxysm of mirth. THE FAMILY FRIEND I I've thought the thing over and over, and honestly I don't know where it went wrong. It began so well. I planned it out, and it went exactly as I'd expected up to a certain point. Then it blew up. There's no argument about it, a girl has to look out for herself. The minute the family begin mixing in there's trouble. The day after I came out mother and I had a real heart-to-heart talk. I'd been away for years at school, and in the summers we hadn't seen much of each other. She played golf all day and I had my tennis and my horse. And in the evenings there were always kid dances. So we really got acquainted that day. She rustled into my room and gazed at what was left of my ball gown, spread out on the bed. "It really went rather well last night," she said. "Yes, mother," I replied. "I've sent the best of the flowers to the hospital." "Yes, mother." "You had more flowers than Bessie Willing." I shrugged my shoulders, and for some reason or other that irritated her. "For heaven's sake, Kit," she said sharply, "I wish you'd show a little appreciation. Your father has spent a fortune on you, one way and another. The supper alone last night----But that's not what I came to talk about." "No, mother?" "No. Are you going to continue to waste your time on Henry Baring?" "I rather enjoy playing round with him. That's all it amounts to." "Not at all," said mother in her best manner. "It keeps the others away." "As, for instance?" I asked politely. She was getting on my nerves. I didn't mean to marry Henry, but I did mean to carry on my own campaign. "You know very well that there are only three marriageable men in town. There are eleven débutantes. And--I don't care to be unkind, but at least four of them are--are----" "I know," I said wearily--"better looking than I am. Go ahead." "You're not at all ugly," mother put in hastily. "A great many people said nice things about you last night. The only thing I want to impress on you is that Madge will have to come out next year, and that you've been reared with expensive tastes." "I've got brains. Most of the other eleven haven't." "Brains are a liability, not an asset." "That's an exploded idea, mother. The only times they are a liability is when they are ruined by too much family interest." "That sounds impertinent," she said coldly. "Not at all; it's good business. If I'm to put over anything worth while, I shall have to work along my own lines. I can't afford to have my style cramped." She raised her eyebrows at that, for she hates slang. But she looked relieved too. When I think of how sure of myself I was that day I could rave! "Then you're not going to waste any more time on Henry?"