She walks them through the garden to show them all the nooks and vistas.  She dilates upon the flowers that bloomed here last month and are going to bloom next.  She insists upon their climbing over rocks to a summerhouse to see the view; she insists on taking them in another direction to see an old mill; and, again, every one is trouped to the cupola of the house to see another view.  She insists on every one’s playing croquet before lunch, to which she gathers in a curiously mixed collection of neighbors.  Immediately after lunch every one is driven to a country club to see some duffer golf—­for some reason there is never “time” in all the prepared pleasures for any of her guests to play golf themselves.  After twenty minutes at the golf club, they are all taken to a church fair.  The guests are all introduced to the ladies at the booth and those who were foolish enough to bring their purses with them from now on carry around an odd assortment of fancy work.  There is another entertainment that her guests must not miss!  A flower pageant of the darlingest children fourteen miles away!  Everyone is dashed to that.  On some one’s front lawn, daisies and lilies and roses trip and skip—­it is all sweetly pretty but the sun is hot and the guests have been on the go for a great many hours.  Soon, however, their hostess leaves.  “Home at last!” think they.  Not at all.  They are going somewhere for tea and French recitations.  But why go on?  The portrait is fairly complete, though this account covers only a few hours and there is still all the evening and to-morrow to be filled in just as liberally.

=THE ANXIOUS HOSTESS=

The anxious hostess does not insist on your ceaseless activity, but she is no less persistent in filling your time.  She is always asking you what you would like to do next.  If you say you are quite content as you are, she nevertheless continues to shower suggestions.  Shall she play the phonograph to you?  Would you like her to telephone to a friend who sings too wonderfully?  Would you like to look at a portfolio of pictures?  If you are a moment silent, she is sure you are bored, and wonders what she can do to divert you!

=THE PERFECT HOSTESS=

The ideal hostess must have so many perfections of sense and character that were she described in full, no one seemingly but a combination of seer and angel could ever hope to qualify.

She must first of all consider the inclinations of her guests, she must not only make them as comfortable as the arrangements and limits of her establishment permit, but she must subordinate her own inclinations utterly.  At the same time, she must not fuss and flutter and get agitated and seemingly make efforts in their behalf.  Nothing makes a guest more uncomfortable than to feel his host or hostess is being put to a great deal of bother or effort on his account.

A perfect hostess like a perfect housekeeper has seemingly nothing whatever to do with household arrangements which apparently run in oiled grooves and of their own accord.