Did you ever hear of such a darling, chivalrous gentleman, Mamma?  And his eyes got all soft, and I am sure, when he was younger, he had all the quality I told you of; and though it would have been safe to go to the moon with him because of his honour, he would have made you feel it would have been nice if he kissed you.

I told him I thought he was lovely, and he smiled rather sadly; and although he seems to have not much knowledge of literature in a dilettante sense, he has a great splendid mind; and if there are many more senators like him at Washington this country ought to be the best governed in the world.  He makes you feel you are on a mountain top or in pine forests, or some vast space, and all the people of society such poor little things.  But he is too kindly even to despise them really; and he looks at his daughter’s weak, reedy husband with affectionate toleration as the last toy she wanted and had got.  “Lola had a keen fancy for Randolph,” he said.  “She liked his being a swell, and if he’s her joy, what’s it to me that I could break his bones with one clasp of my hand?” And he put out his strong well kept fingers.

You know, Mamma, I do wonder if such a man could marry one of us, who understand that a really fine male creature is our superior and not meant to obey us, and who would appreciate all his splendid aims, and not think they were there just to buy us diamonds—­I wonder what sort of children we should have?  They ought to be absolutely superb, oughtn’t they?

I was so thrilled with Mr. Elias P. Arden that I stayed on the sofa with him all the evening, and he told me every sort of interesting thing, and at last said he would like us to come and see the mining camps with him in the West.  He is a president of the railway there, and he has a private car.

“I’ll bring along a specimen of young man for your inspection, Ma’am,” he said.  “Nelson Renour, the finest young chap I’ve met in my life.”

And when he said that, a great rush of remembrance came over me, and I felt I should love to see him again, and I told the Senator so, and how we had met him, and just then Tom joined us and we have arranged it all; when we have been to Philadelphia to stay with Kitty Bond for a day or two, we are going right out West, and shall all meet the private car at Los Angeles and go to the camps.  “Lola” and her husband are coming, too, and anyone else we like; and the Vicomte immediately proposed himself, as he said he is deeply interested in mining and wants to invest some money.  I think we shall have a superb time, don’t you, Mamma?  And I am longing to be off, but we have still some more social things to do, and go to one dance.

It is so late in the year all the balls are finished and lots of people have already gone to Europe.  They are having this one on purpose for us, because Octavia said she wanted to see some young men and girls, and how they amuse themselves.  The girls have a perfectly emancipated and glorious time, and are petted and spoilt to a degree.  They don’t come much to the ladies’ lunches, but they have girls’ lunches of their own, and their own motor cars and horses, or whatever else they want, and do not have to ask their mothers’ leave about anything.