"At the same time," continued Mrs. Bergan, "she remarked, that it would be a very nice thing, if it were only true. And afterward she said that she would like to renew her acquaintance with Astra;--you remember that the two were very good child-friends, though circumstances have kept them apart, of late,--as they have their mothers! I really feel guilty when I think how fond I used to be of Catherine Lyte, and how I have allowed her to slip out of my life. But then, we were both invalids, for many years, with scarce strength enough for home cares, and not a jot for friendship or society. Still, I have all my old regard for her carefully buried in my heart, like the talent in the parable; intact, if not in a way to increase. One of these days, I mean to dig it up, and go with Carice to pay her a visit, and take a look at the wonders of Astra's studio." "I am glad to hear it," said Mr. Bergan. "Well! I suppose the conclusion of the whole matter is, that we are to give Bergan a dinner, and the freedom of the house." "Precisely," replied Mrs. Bergan, nodding her head. "And now, I want to consult you about the invitation list." Mr. Bergan rose hastily. "I am quite content to leave that to you, my dear." His wife caught his arm, "You are not going to shirk the responsibility in that way," she said, decidedly. "I really want your advice. Am I to ask Dr. Remy?" "Why not?" "I don't quite like the man." "I cannot see what you have against him, unless it be that he was not born in the county, and you don't know his whole pedigree." Mrs. Bergan did not answer. She knew her dislike to be a case of spontaneous generation, and not at all qualified to give a lucid account of itself. "Besides," continued her husband, "he is Bergan's particular friend." "Is he?" asked Mrs. Bergan, innocently. "I did not know that he was anybody's friend." "Clarissa!" exclaimed Mr. Bergan, rebukingly. "I never heard Dr. Remy speak ill of anybody, in all my acquaintance with him." "Did you ever hear him speak well of anybody?" responded Mrs. Bergan,--"well enough, that is, to give you new interest, faith, delight, in the person of whom he spoke? On the contrary, does he not somehow manage to chill what you have?" "I cannot say that he talks of his friends with the warm effusion of a woman," answered Mr. Bergan, sarcastically. "But only with the cold malice of a man," retorted Mrs. Bergan. "There! a truce! He shall come, if only to prove what I have said. Next, I want to invite Mrs. Lyte and Astra." "Very well." "And Mr. Islay, and Judge and Mrs. Morris, and--" "You have seven already," interrupted Mr. Bergan, "making ten with ourselves; which I hold to be the magic number for a dinner party. If you want to invite anybody else, better wait till another time."