air my dear i shall go to this and see what she the land of mockery means to do in the matter poor she must be disgusted at the whole affair she had rather a liking for hadn t she inquired mr folding up the times in a neat parcel preparatory to taking it with him in order to read il in peace on his way to the law courts liking well and mrs looking at herself once more in the glass carefully arranged the of lace about her massive throat � it was a little more than liking � though of course her feelings were perfectly proper and all that sort of thing � at least i suppose they were she had a great friendship for him � one of those perfectly spiritual and innocent i believe which are so rare in this wicked world mrs sighed then suddenly becoming practical again she continued yes i shall go there and stop to luncheon and talk this thing over then i ll drive on to the van and bring home to dinner i suppose you don t object object mr made a gesture and raised his eyes in wonder as if he dared object to anything whatsoever that his wife desired she smiled graciously as he approached and respectfully kissed her smooth cool cheek before taking his departure for his daily work as a lawyer in the city and when he was gone she herself to her own small where she busied herself for more than an hour in writing letters and answering invitations she was in her own line a person of importance she made it her business to know everything and everybody � she was fond of with other people s domestic concerns and she had a finger in ev ry family pie she was moreover a regular � fond of taking young ladies under her maternal wing and introducing them to the proper quarters and when as was often the case a distinguished american of many dollars but no influence offered her three or four hundred guineas for his daughter into english society and marrying her well mrs rush the quite gracefully and did her best for the girl she was a good looking woman tall and witli an air of distinction about her though her features were by no means striking and the of her nose was out of all proportion to the majesty of her form � but she had a very charming and a pleasant taking manner and she was universally admired in that particular set wherein she moved girls adored her and wrote her letters full of the most � married ladies on the verge of a scandal came to her to help them out of their old troubled with or daughters poured their troubles into her ears � in short her hands were full of other people s business to such an extent that she had scarcely any leisure to attend to her own mr rush but why describe this gentleman at all he was a mere � known simply as the husband of mrs rush he knew he was a nobody � and unlike many men placed in a similar position he was satisfied with his lot he his wife intensely and never failed to flatter her vanity to the utmost excess so that on the whole they were excellent friends and agreed much better than most married people it was about twelve o clock in the day when mrs rush s neat little and pair stopped at lord s great house in park lane a gorgeous threw open the door with a severe expression on his breakfast flushed countenance � an expression which relaxed into a smile of condescension on seeing who the visitor was i suppose lady is at home inquired mrs with the air of one familiar with the ways of the household yes m replied slowly taking in the style of mrs rush s bonnet and mentally calculating its cost her is in the ril go there said mrs stepping into the hall and beginning to walk across it in her own important and self manner you needn t announce me closed the street door settled his powdered wig and looked after her then he shut up one eye in a sufficiently laborious manner and grinned after this he retired slowly to a small room where he found the world with its leaves taking up his master s ivory paper knife he to remedy this inconvenience � and yawning heavily he seated himself in a velvet arm chair and was soon absorbed � the pages of the journal in question the land of mockery meanwhile mrs in her way across the great hall to the had been interrupted and nearly knocked down by the playful embrace of a handsome boy who sprang out upon her suddenly with a shout of laughter � a boy of about twelve years old with frank bright blue eyes and dark curls cried this young gentleman � here you are again do you want to see papa papa s in there i � pointing to the door from which he had emerged he s my latin exercise five good marks to day and i m going to the this afternoon isn t it jolly dear me exclaimed mrs half yet with an indulgent smile � i wish you would not be so boisterous vou ve nearly knocked my bonnet off no i haven t laughed it s as straight as � wait a bit and waving a lead pencil in the air he drew an imaginary stroke with it the middle feather is up and down just on a line with your nose � it couldn t be better i � � there go along you silly boy said mrs amused in spite of herself get back to your lessons there ll be no for you if you don t behave properly 