"H

ere now - girl!" said Jane to the servant, "go and fetch Mr. Acton a piece of paper and a pencil right away."

Off the girl went, but was tardy in returning. When she finally did appear, she explained that Mary had insisted she perform chores for the party

"Of course we know Mrs. Corning is somewhat lacking in standards when it comes to servants." Jane said to me. And then she began dictating a list of the faults and errors to be delivered to Betsy. Jane insisted the girl stay and wait for the list to be completed so that she might deliver it immediately - to the girl's great discomfort. While Jane was making a list of all the errors of the party, I thought of a few errors Betsy had made during the construction phase of the green-house, so we added those to the list as well.

The list complete, we sent it off with the serving girl. Then I said: "do let's take some time to enjoy the party, flawed though it may be." I offered Jane my arm, and together we strolled the grounds, Whitlander following behind. The Gimmerton band struck up another waltz, and I asked Jane to dance. She danced perfectly - of course - and I'm afraid I was not especially good myself, but I did my best to keep up with her.

The waltz over, we continued our stroll, while waiting for Betsy to respond to our list. As we strolled, Jane entertained me by pointing out the various fashion faux pas committed by the other ladies in attendance at the party. Finally I insisted that Jane have a look inside the green-house. I wanted to show off a little for her, and point out the various details that I had contributed to the interior of the building. As we entered, to my great surprise, there was Betsy, and she appeared to be boiling a vegetable soup in the small fireplace. When she saw us she stood to face us - or rather Jane - with a look of defiance on her face.

"So" said Betsy, "here you are at last."

(To be continue...)