Wemyss entered perfectly. There were two manners of meeting ladies most in vogue at this time, which may perhaps be described as the _horsey_ and the _cavalier_. Of the former, which was perhaps the more fashionable, Jimmy De Witt was an excellent example; he would have come in with boisterous _bonhomie_, a stable-boy’s story, or a blunt approval of Flossie’s pretty ankle, which was being warmed before the fire; but Wemyss affected the old-fashioned, and was pleased to be conscious that his manners were, as he would have said, _de vieille roche_. He took her hand and bowed deeply over it, as if he wanted to kiss it, but did not dare; then, drawing a low ottoman in front of the fire, he sat down, as it were, at her feet. “Well, Mr. Wemyss, how did you find Boston?” said Mrs. Gower, by way of beginning. “Boston, my dear Mrs. Gower, is impossible. There used to be some originals, but now there are only left their country acquaintances, or their self-imposed biographers, who feebly seek to shine by their reflected light. Emerson might do, for the provinces; but Emerson’s country neighbors! Their society is one of _ganaches_ and _femmes précieuses_--oh, such precious women!--of circles, coteries, and clubs, with every knowledge but the _savoir faire_ and every science but the _savoir vivre_!” “But,” said Mrs. Gower, “surely I have seen some very civilized Bostonians, at Newport, in the summer?” “You have--like a stage procession,” said Wemyss with a smile. “And so, if you stand long enough in the window of the club there, and are fortunate, you may, of an afternoon, see Mrs. Weston’s carriage and footmen go down the hill; and perhaps, if you smoke another cigar and wait, you may be so happy as to see Mrs. Weston’s carriage and footmen going up the hill again. The rest of Boston drive in carry-alls.” Mrs. Gower laughed. “Now I always thought it would be such a charming place to live in--so many celebrated people have been there--so many associations----” “My dear lady, it is consecrated ground if you like,” said Wemyss, interrupting. “And a very proper place to be buried in. But I tried living there for three months.” “And so, now, you are going back to Paris?” “I came on with that intention.” “Why don’t you go then?” “I am afraid it’s too late,” said Wemyss, looking at his watch. “My steamer sails at four.” Mrs. Gower made a little ejaculation of surprise; and then laughed a trill or two. “Mr. Wemyss, you are a great humbug,” said she, throwing her head back upon the pink satin cushion, and looking at him from the corners of her half-closed eyes. “We have to be,” said Wemyss, with a sigh. “Now there’s the trouble of Boston; they can’t understand that. And the six or eight of us who do, grow rusty for want of practice.” “But you have one another?” “We know one another down to the ground. There is no excitement in that; it is playing double-dummy without stakes.” “And so you are going to Paris?” “And so I was going to Paris?”