“Oh, my dear Miss Kilburn, spare yourself! We don't expect you to take part in the play. I don't admit that you're what you say at all; but we only want you to lend us your countenance.” “Oh, is that all? And what do you expect to do with my countenance?” Annie said, with a laugh of misgiving. “Everything. We know how much influence your name has--one of the old Hatboro' names--in the community, and all that; and we do want to interest the whole community in our scheme. We want to establish a Social Union for the work-people, don't you know, and we think it would be much nicer if it seemed to originate with the old village people.” Annie could not resist an impression in favour of the scheme. It gave definition to the vague intentions with which she had returned to Hatboro'; it might afford her a chance to make reparation for the figure on the soldiers' monument. “I'm not sure,” she began. “If I knew just what a Social Union is--” “Well, at first,” Mr. Brandreth interposed, “it will only be a reading-room, supplied with the magazines and papers, and well lighted and heated, where the work-people--those who have no families especially--could spend their evenings. Afterward we should hope to have a kitchen, and supply tea and coffee--and oysters, perhaps--at a nominal cost; and ice-cream in the summer.” “But what have your outdoor theatricals to do--But of course. You intend to give the proceeds--” “Exactly. And we want the proceeds to be as large as possible. We propose to give our time and money to getting the thing up in the best shape, and then we want all the villagers to give their half-dollars and make it a success every way.” “I see,” said Annie. “We want it to be successful, and we want it to be distinguished; we want to make it unique. Mrs. Munger is going to give her grounds and the decorations, and there will be a supper afterward, and a little dance.” “Such things are a great deal of trouble,” said Annie, with a smile, from the vantage-ground of her larger experience. “What do you propose to do--what play?” “Well, we've about decided upon some scenes from _Romeo and Juliet_. They would be very easy to set, outdoors, don't you know, and everybody knows them, and they wouldn't be hard to do. The ballroom in the house of the Capulets could be made to open on a kind of garden terrace--Mrs. Munger has a lovely terrace in her grounds for lawn-tennis--and then we could have a minuet on the grass. You know Miss Mather introduces a minuet in that scene, and makes a great deal of it. Or, I forgot. She's come up since you went away.” “Yes; I hadn't heard of her. Isn't a minuet at Verona in the time of the Scaligeri rather--” “Well, yes, it is, rather. But you've no idea how pretty it is. And then, you know, we could have the whole of the balcony scene, and other bits that we choose to work in--perhaps parts of other acts that would suit the scene.” “Yes, it would be charming; I can see how very charming it could be made.”