"Well, I am sure that was _most_ sweet and gracious of Mrs. Van Duser. Didn't you find it so, my dear? So _dear_ of her to personally welcome you to _Boston_! You'll call, of course, as soon as she returns from her country place. She will expect it, I am sure; such women are _most_ punctilious in their code of social requirements, and you can't be _too_ careful not to offend. You'll forgive me for saying this much, won't you, dear?" Elizabeth was conscious of a distinct sense of displeasure as she met Miss Tripp's anxiously solicitous eyes. "You are very good, Evelyn," she said, "but Sam--Mr. Brewster--thinks it will be best for us not to--" She paused, her candid face suffused with blushes. "I'd--prefer not to talk about Mrs. Van Duser, if you please. We don't _ever_ expect to go and see her." The tactful Miss Tripp looked sadly puzzled, but she felt that it would not be the part of wisdom to press the issue for the moment. Her face wreathed itself anew in forgiving smiles as she flitted about the little rooms. "_Isn't_ this the most convenient, cosy little apartment?" she twittered. "I am _so_ glad I was able to secure it for you; I assure you I was obliged to use all of my diplomacy with the agent. And your pretty things _do_ light up the dark corners so nicely. And speaking of corners somehow reminds me, I have found you a _perfect treasure_ of a maid; but you must take her at once. She's a cousin of our Marie, and has always been employed by the best people. She was with Mrs. Paget Smythe last, I believe. She told Marie last night that she would be willing to come to you for only twenty dollars a month, and that's _very_ reasonable, considering the fact that she is willing to do part of the laundry work,--the towels, sheets and plain things, you know. _Expensive?_ Indeed it's not, dear--for _Boston_. Why, I could tell you of plenty of people who are _glad_ to pay twenty-five and put all their laundry out. I'd advise you to engage Annita without delay. Really, you couldn't do better." Elizabeth shook her head. "I mean to do my own work," she said decidedly. "I shall want something to do while Sam is away, and why not this when I--like it?" "But you won't like it after a while, my poor child, when the shine is once worn off your new pans and things, and _think_ of your hands! It's absolutely impossible to keep one's nails in any sort of condition, and besides the heat from the gas-range is simply _ruinous_ for the complexion. Didn't you _know_ that? Of course you are all milk and roses now, but how long do you suppose that will last, if you are to be cooped up in a hot, stuffy little kitchen from morning till night?" Miss Tripp paused dramatically, her eyes wide with sympathy and apprehension. "But we--I am sure we oughtn't to afford to keep a maid," demurred Elizabeth in a small, weak voice. "So please don't----"