A huge machine of bridal white ... tore around the corner
A huge machine of bridal white ... tore around the corner.
"It is they!" said Mrs. Reynolds with emphasis; then, after a pause, she asked: "Are you going to-morrow afternoon?"
"I suppose so. As it was a 'request the pleasure,' I had to answer, and we didn't have an engagement. Besides, she has brought home some lovely new tapestries, and we are asked to meet an Eastern soothsayer, who is said to be a marvel atmind-reading. Mrs. Charles Haviland and half a dozen women, who are supposed to be fastidious, are coming from town, so my husband seemed to think we had better go."
"It's because she's artistic that she is forgiven, so my husband says, and of course if everyone else is going to 'Norrey's Knoll' there is no sense in our turning up our noses at the new master and mistress."
"Is Mrs. Cunningham going?" asked Mrs. Miller.
"I hear that Dick Weston has bet Mr. Douglas Hale fifty dollars to twenty-five that she does."
"I suppose Lydia and her husband have come to lunch and play bridge," said Mrs. Miller musingly. "They say she plays wonderfully—almost as well as he does. My husband objects to my playing for money."
"So does mine. He says it is bad form—vulgar for women—and that it is bringing American society down to the level of the four Georges. But how about men? I obey him, because I am of the dutiful kind. But how about men?" she reiterated trenchantly.
Mrs. Miller dodged the question. "I should fall in a fit if I lost seventy-five dollars in an afternoon, as some of them do."
"They say one gets used to it. I have made Alfred promise to give me an automobile as an indemnity for refusing to play. I must be in fashion to that extent anyway."
Mrs. Miller laughed. They were now practically alone. The occupants of the tennis courts, both women and men, had drifted toward the club entrance, wherethey stood admiring the new machine and exchanging greetings with the newly married owners. The Spencers had been in possession of "Norrey's Knoll"—which Herbert Maxwell had sold to Lydia—about three weeks, and on the morrow were to hold an afternoon reception for the latest social novelty, an Eastern sorceress. From where they sat the two young women were able to perceive what was going on, and presumably it was the sight of the grizzled Gerald Marcy bandying persiflage with Mrs. Spencer which furnished the cue to Mrs. Miller's next remark:
"Mr. Marcy says that 'bridge' is essentially a gambling game," she responded a little mournfully, "and that to play it properly one should play for money, if at all."
"Mr. Marcy says also, my dears, that there are no recognized standards of behavior in this country. It is all go-as-you-please," said a sardonic voice close behind them. They turned in surprise. So absorbed had they been in their dialogue and in watching the arrival of the Spencers that they had failed to notice the approach of Mrs. Andrew Cunningham.
"And he is right," continued that lady, tossing her golf clubs on the grass with a somewhat dejected air. "I am going to surrender."
Thereupon she accepted the space which the others made for her on the bench, and folding her arms turned her gaze in the direction of the white monster and its satellites. The elder matron vouchsafed no immediate key to the riddle she had just enunciated. Mrs. Reynoldsstooped, and picking up the bag of golf clubs examined them with an air of one who scans ancient, fusty relics.
"I can't imagine," she said, "how you can keep on playing golf now that everyone is crazy about tennis."
Mrs. Cunningham smiled wanly. "That's what I meant," she answered. "I'm going to begin tennis to-morrow—and I'm also going to Lydia Spencer's reception. My spirit of opposition is broken."
"Yes," continued the mother of the hunt, in an apostrophizing tone, as though she still felt herself on the defensive, "every one is going, and most of the nice people are coming from town. So why should I be stuffy and bite my own nose off? Which goes far to prove, my dears," she added, sententiously, "that the only unpardonablesocial sin in this country is to lose one's money. Nothing else really counts."
"Oh!" exclaimed the two young women together with animation, as each reflected that Dick Weston had won his bet.
"As an observer of American men and women and things Judge Grant is without a rival."—The Critic.
"He has proved himself a domestic and social philosopher, happily commingling sharp vision with a good deal of rational philosophy touching practical matters and every-day relationships."—The Outlook.
The Undercurrent
Illustrated by F. C. Yohn. 12mo. $1.50
"First of all a novel, and an excellent one."—Review of Reviews.
"It is a novel in that it has a simple and sympathetic romance for a basis; it is a great novel in that it presents each typical phase of modern life as a master would paint it, seizing the supreme moment and interpreting its significance."—New York Sun.
"Into it has gone so much thought, so much keen observation, so much ripe reflection, that one lays it down with a feeling of respect amounting almost to reverence for the man who has brought to the complicated problems of our modern living such earnestness and such ability."—Interior, Chicago.
"The discriminating reader cannot fail to find a keen pleasure in the fine literary art which the book displays, as well as the masterly fashion in which the story is developed."—Brooklyn Eagle.
Search-Light Letters
12mo. $1.50
"The book has a unique character and flavor that ought to make it pleasant to the little company of faithful lovers of the English essay."—The Churchman.
"Mr. Robert Grant is one of our brightest and wittiest writers, and he tells whatever he has to say in so graceful, happy, and amusing a fashion that everything he writes is thoroughly enjoyable."—Boston Herald.
"Judge Grant has a keen eye for human weakness, but he looks with Emersonian benignity upon frailties, and he is not without the philosopher's optimistic note of hope."—Chicago Tribune.
The Art of Living
12mo. $1.50
"Mr. Grant's style is easy and lively, his views of life are sound, his humor is pleasing, his wit keen. His book is as good an example of the art of writing as of the art of living."—The Independent.
"We have never read a page of his writing of which he should be ashamed, either as a true gentleman or an unusually deft and clever weaver of the wholesome English language."—The Critic.
"Crisp and delightful essays. The book is excellent and valuable in every sense of the word."—Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Unleavened Bread
12mo. $1.50
"No American writer for many years has wrought out a work of fiction so full of meaning, so admirable in its literary quality, and so large and comprehensive as this book of Mr. Grant's."—The Bookman.
"The author has elaborated with perfect and convincing clearness a subtile problem in social evolution. And yet he gets into no intricate and fine-spun webs of theory. He sums up the whole case with judicial fairness and gives the devil his dues. The satire in it springs from abundant knowledge of actual social conditions. It is cutting, but it is not flippant or cynical. The book is written in dead earnest."—Life.
"In depicting Selma Mr. Grant has produced a work of art so symmetrical and sincere that it deserves also to be called a work of science."—London Academy.
"It would be difficult to find a modern novel cleverer than 'Unleavened Bread.' It is impossible within the narrow limits of a short paragraph to give any idea of the extreme cleverness with which Selma's character is drawn. An interesting study of American life, with a subtilely painted portrait of a delicate and virtuous female Pecksniff. The book is a great deal more than readable."—London Spectator.
"A very remarkable novel, rich in ideas, strong in high appeal, of great interest to all students of life and character, and, especially, to every American who loves his country and desires the best things for her."—Boston Advertiser.
The Bachelor's Christmas
Illustrated. 12mo. $1.50
"Mr. Grant's short stories are models in their way. He always writes well and simply, with no affectations and with much humor."—New York Times.
"Clever and interesting. Mr. Grant has a happy turn of words, with much appreciation of humor."—Philadelphia Public Ledger.
"A most agreeable volume."—New York Sun.
"Mr. Grant's humor is kindly, loving, pure, innocent."—New York Tribune.
Reflections of a Married Man
16mo. $1.25
"A quiet and extremely pleasant social satire."—Providence Journal.
"Writers of renown have drawn many true and vivid pictures of different phases of American life, but none has succeeded in presenting anything more typically American than that which is given us in this small book."—Chicago Evening Post.
THE Opinions of a Philosopher
16mo. $1.25
"He at least is a laughing philosopher, and discusses the ups and downs of married and business and social life with a hopeful spirit. He is amusing and ranges from lively to severe in his running commentary."—Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
"The book is altogether a delightful one and its freshness and sincerity are beyond all praise."—Charleston (S. C.) News and Courier.
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONSNEW YORK