Who ate Mrs. Gurley’s luncheon is a moot question in the select circles of the capital city. Peterson and his party might have enjoyed the repast had not the proprietor of the bath parlors, after accepting Mrs. Gurley’s bouquet at the station gates, vanished with his accomplices in the general direction of their lodge room of the Order of the Golden Buck. When foolish reporters tried to learn at the City Hall why the Mayor had changed without warning the plans for the reception, that official referred them to the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, who in turn directed the inquirers to the Governor’s office and the Governor, having been properly admonished by his wife, knew nothing whatever about it. IV As the Burgesses were reviewing the incidents of the day at dinner that evening, Mrs. Burgess remarked suddenly, “Now that it’s all over, Web, do you think it was quite fair, really _right_?” “You mean,” asked Webster, huskily, “that you’re not satisfied with the way it was handled?” “Oh, not that! But it was almost _too_ complete; and poor Mrs. Gurley must be horribly humiliated.” “Crushed, I should say,” remarked Webster cheerfully. “This ought to hold her for a while.” “But that fake delegation you had at the station to deceive Mrs. Gurley----” “I beg your pardon,” Webster interrupted, “I assure you I had nothing to do with it.” “Well, all I _know_ is that just before dinner Mrs. Eastman called me up and said the Governor had just telephoned her that Mrs. Gurley tried to _kiss_ the hand of some man she took for the Illyrian Minister of Foreign Affairs as he went through the station gates. And the man is nothing but a rubber in a Turkish bath. You _wouldn’t_ have done that, Web, would you?” “No, dear, I would not! For one thing, I wouldn’t have been smart enough to think it up.” “And you know, Web, I shouldn’t want you to think me mean and envious and jealous. I’m not really that way; you know I’m not! And of course if I’d thought you’d really bring the Illyrians here, I should never have mentioned it at all.” Webster passed his hand across his brow in bewilderment. At moments when he thought he was meeting the most exacting requirements of the marital relationship it was enormously disturbing to find himself defeated. “Your luncheon was a great success; the talk at the table was wonderful; and the girls you brought in made a big hit. It’s the best party you ever pulled off,” he declared warmly.