E-text prepared by David Garcia and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org/) Note: Images of the original pages are available through Kentuckiana Digital Library. See http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;xc=1&idno=b92-203-30752381&view=toc THE SMART SET Correspondence & Conversations by CLYDE FITCH 1897 Chicago & New York Herbert S. Stone & Co Copyright, 1897, by Herbert S. Stone & Co. TO "MUMSY" TO WHOM I OWE EVERYTHING FROM THE LITTLE BEGINNING OF MY LIFE NEW YORK 1897 The Correspondence and the Conversations PAGE THE MAKEWAY BALL 3 THE PLAINTIFF 43 THE SUMMER 53 THE CHILDREN 65 MATERNITY 85 A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION 105 WAGNER, 1897 113 ART 131 SORROW 139 THE THEATRE 149 THE OPERA 159 A PERFECT DAY 167 THE WESTINGTON'S BOHEMIAN DINNER 175 THE GAMBLERS 187 The Makeway Ball Five Letters I. From Wm. H. Makeway II. From Mrs. Makeway III. From Miss Makeway IV. From a Guest V. From an Uninvited The Smart Set I _From Wm. H. Makeway to Joseph K. Makeway, of Denver._ New York, Jan. 12, 189--. My Dear Brother: You did well to stay West. Would to God I had! Julia's big party came off last night. I told her weeks ago, when she began insinuating it, that if it must be it must be, of course, and that I would pay all the bills, but I wished it distinctly understood I wouldn't have anything else to do with it. She assured me that nothing whatever would be expected of me. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only woman with an American husband, and that people would understand. She promised me I should have a voice in the matter of cigars and champagne--you can know they were _all right_--and I believe the success of the party was, in a great measure, due to them.