"As his mother," I said, "I cannot bear to see his abilities wasting... He needs a _good_ appointment; and I don't even know where to _begin_ looking for one. But _you_ are not to bother your head about _my_ affairs. Tell me, dear child, what is troubling _you_." So far as I could make out--she spoke very simply and nicely--, she was afraid of getting into a false position with Will if she went about with him so much. _Affichée_... At this ball--I had handed on her mother's request that we should be _most_ careful whom we introduced--Will had very unselfishly played cavalier the whole evening; and, as she put on her cloak, some girl had asked one of those silly, impertinent questions which do such incalculable harm... "My dear, you must not distress yourself," I said. "You know the old saying--'There is safety in numbers'--; for the future..." It was quite evident to me _now _that Will did not intend to marry her. He was furious when I even _hinted_ at such a thing... And I will tell _you_ that I was glad. She would not have made a suitable wife, and no amount of money will overcome those little hardly perceptible angularities of breeding which make the difference between a happy and an unhappy marriage. While there was any possibility of such a thing, I _had_ to hold my peace... That night I improvized quite a big party for her. Will was not able to be present, as he had a long-standing engagement to dine with a man at his club. We had encroached on his time so much that for the first week of the new _régime_ I hardly saw him; he was simply making up arrears with his other friends. I was lucky enough to get hold of Culroyd, however; and, though he was hardly a substitute for Will--I hate to say this about my own nephew, but I always feel that my poor sister-in-law Ruth imported a bucolic strain into the blood--, he did his best and made quite an impression on Hilda...