Now Mrs. Veneer began by being nobody, socially speaking. Her husband was a Midland manufacturer, in a fair way of business, and she had no knowledge of London Society and Bond Street dressmakers, save through the medium of the ladies’ journals, which she devoured in discontent. But there came a season of much profit to her husband’s factory; his foreman of works had introduced a novelty which became the fashion, and by aid of much advertising the fortune of the Veneers was made. Then they opened a branch house in the Metropolis, and Mrs. Veneer insisted that their home should henceforth be in London. Provincial life was ridiculous, she would say, nobody knew anything in the country. She yearned for society. She knew she was pretty, and could wear a good gown with grace. She knew that she had a bright intelligence, and that she was accomplished enough to be able to patronise the arts and artists without betraying her provincialism. So her husband, being well trained and not too assertive, assented to the change of residence, and tried hard to be content. At first they had very few acquaintances, but among them was one little woman, who was a host in herself. She was an officer’s widow, and though her means were limited, her social connection was extensive. Her gentility was unimpeachable, and she had the _entrée_ into many good houses, for she was a genial little soul, and everybody was sorry for her, though no one knew exactly why. She always seemed to be working at something in somebody else’s interest, and was largely and energetically engaged in promoting bazaars and balls in aid of philanthropic institutions, so that the sympathy she evoked on their behalf appeared somehow to cling to herself. Besides, a busy woman with a mission, especially a philanthropic one, always commands a certain amount of respect. Now this little person added to her other energetic impulses a persistent passion for introducing people to one another. That anybody of any kind of personality should be introduced to her set, or be in her set, except through her medium, was a personal vexation, even a sorrow, to her; therefore she made it her business to know everybody, and always to be on the alert for introductions.