MRS. PRATTLETON. Let me see--_did_ we have a fine Summer in '87? Yes, of course--I always remember the weather by the clothes we wore, and that June and July we wore scarcely anything--some filmy stuff that belonged to one's ancestress, don't you know. _Such_ fun! By the way, what has become of Lucy? MRS. ST. PATTICKER. Oh, I've quite lost sight of her lately--you see she's so perfectly happy now, that she's ceased to be in the least interesting! MRS. HUSSIFFE (_to_ MR. DE MURE). Perhaps _you_ can tell me of a good coal merchant? The people who supply me now are perfect _fiends_, and I really must go somewhere else. MR. DE MURE. Then I'm afraid you must be rather difficult to please. MR. TABLETT _has been introduced to_ MRS. MAYNARD GERY--_with the following result_. MRS. M. G. (_enthusiastically_). I'm so delighted to make your acquaintance. When my brother-in-law told me who you were, I positively very nearly shrieked. I am such an admirer of your--(_thinks she won't commit herself to the whole title--and so compounds_)--your delightful _Sabrina_! MR. T. Most gratified to hear it, I'm sure. I'm told there's a growing demand for it. MRS. M. G. Such a hopeful sign--when one was beginning quite to despair of the public taste! MR. T. Well, I've always said--So long as you give the Public a really first-rate article, and are prepared to spend any amount of money on _pushing_ it, you know, you're sure to see a handsome return for your outlay--in the long run. And of course you must get it carefully analysed by competent judges-- MRS. M. G. Ah, but _you_ can feel independent of criticism now, can't you? MR. T. Oh, I defy any one to find anything unwholesome in it--it's as suitable for the most delicate child as it is for adults--nothing to irritate the most sensitive-- MRS. M. G. Ah, you mean certain critics are so thin-skinned--they are: indeed! MR. T. (_warming to his subject_). But the beauty of this particular composition is that it causes absolutely no unpleasantness or inconvenience afterwards. In some cases, indeed, it acts like a charm. I've known of two cases of long-standing erysipelas it has completely cured. MRS. M. G. (_rather at sea_). How gratifying that must be. But that is the magic of all truly great work, it is such an _anodyne_--it takes people so completely out of themselves--doesn't it? MR. T. It takes anything of that sort out of _them_, Ma'am. It's the finest discovery of the age, no household will be without it in a few months--though perhaps I say it who shouldn't.