"Oh, it is delightful, and such a beautiful home. Such a lovely town--" Her face was radiant with pleasure. Then they paused. "We go on a few blocks further. We live in Gray street. I am very glad to have met you. Shall I see you again next Sunday morning?" "Oh, yes," promised Lilian. Then she took her mother's arm. "Did you like it mother dear? I thought the service very simple and sweet." "And the lady was so friendly. I told her we were at the Seminary. The daughter teaches school, and she asked me to visit them--to come to tea some day. Do you suppose Mrs. Barrington would object? Would you like to go?" timidly. "Why it would be very pleasant." "Everybody seems so grand, I'm glad not to go to the high-up tables; I'm so afraid of mistakes. You see when people get along in life it isn't so easy to take up new ways. But that Mrs. Trenham seemed like some of the Laconia folks." "Yes, we will go again next Sunday," said Lilian. "And to tea the first time we are invited." CHAPTER IV THE GRACE OF ENDEAVOR The door of Mrs. Boyd's room stood partly open. Louie Howe gave a light tap and marched in with an air that was rather insolent. "Oh, Mrs. Boyd, I've given my walking dress such an awful tear! Mrs. Barrington said she was quite sure you could mend it. You see I'm going to a sort of musicale in about an hour and I couldn't take it to the tailors. It's my best suit, too, and--it must be done very neatly." Mrs. Boyd examined it. "Yes, it's pretty bad, I've done worse though, and part of it will be under the plait. Let me see if I have the right color." She opened a box of spools and took up several colors to match. "Oh, yes, here is one," and she gave a smile of gratification. Louie dropped into a chair. Was she going to wait? Lilian wondered. "What a pleasant room this is, Mrs. Boyd! But all the rooms are just cozy and nice. Of course Mrs. Barrington can afford to keep it in a lovely fashion for her prices are high and she doesn't care to take any scholars only from the best families. I do wonder how that Nevins girl slipped in? Her father is a first-class banker, I have understood. They have a big house in New York and a summer house at Elberon, and their New York house is rented out for seven thousand dollars; but isn't she a terror? How do you stand her, Miss Boyd?" "She has had very little training. Her mother has been ill and seems very indulgent," answered Lilian quietly. "Yet she may make a very fair scholar." "It's funny to hear her talk. Bragging, we call it. Do you suppose the stories are true?" "Mrs. Barrington would know," was the cautious reply. "Well, I suppose she must be satisfactory or she wouldn't be here. But there's common blood back of her somewhere. Money doesn't give you the prestige of good birth. That always shows--don't you think so?" with a confident upward glance. "I have not had experience enough with the world to judge," answered Lilian. "We lived in a factory town--"