Cornelia couldn’t help laughing at the solemn question, but she sobered instantly. “Yes, dear, I guess I did. I wanted her to have respect for Carey’s family and to know that, however foolish he may be, there is something, as you say, ‘regular’ behind him. Because there is, you know, Louie. Father and mother are ‘regular’.” “They are!” said the little girl. “It sounds rather queer to try to impress people with fuss and show and food fixed up in fancy styles; but, if I can judge anything about that girl, she hasn’t reached the stage yet where she can appreciate anything but fuss and fancy and fashion. So we’ve got to use the things that will appeal to her if we want to reach her at all. If it were just Grace Kendall coming, or even the young man Brand, I would have things very plain and simple. It would be in better taste and more to my liking. But I have a notion, kitten, that, if we had everything very simple, that young lady with the fancy name would rather despise us, and set out to ride right over us. They talk a great deal nowadays about people’s reaction to things; and, if I know anything at all about that girl, I feel pretty sure that her reaction to simple, quiet things would be far from what we want. So for this once we’ll blossom out and have things as stylish and fancy and formal as possible. I’ve heard it said that there is nothing so good to take the pride out of an ignorant person as an impressive array of forks and spoons; so we’ll try it on Miss Clytie, and see if we can bring her near enough to our class to get acquainted with her real self. Now get a pencil, and write down the menu, and see how it reads.” “But what are you going to have in the middle, Nellie, after the soup? Any meat?” “Why, surely, round steak, simmered all day with an onion, and browned down with thick gravy the way you love it so well; only we’ll cut it into small servings like cutlets before we cook it, and nobody will ever dream what it is. Then we’ll have new potatoes creamed, with parsley sprinkled over them, and spinach minced, with a hard-boiled egg on top; and for salad we’ll make some gelatin molds in the custard cups with shredded cabbage and parsley in it, that on a lettuce leaf will look very pretty; and I’ll make the mayonnaise out of the yolks of the eggs from the angel cake. There’ll be enough left over to make a gold cake or some custard for the next day besides. Now write the menu. Raspberry fruit cocktail, cream of spinach soup, round-steak cutlets with brown gravy, creamed new potatoes with parsley, spinach, aspic jelly salad, angel cake, mint sherbet, and coffee. Doesn’t that sound good?” “I should say,” answered the little girl with a happy sigh.