CHAPTER IV.

Mrs. Upjohn’s entertainment.

Mrs. Upjohn was going to give an entertainment.  She was about to open the hospitable doors of the great house upon the hill, which seemed to have chosen that pre-eminence that it might the better overlook the morals of its neighbors.  Joppa held its breath in charmed suspense.  The question was not, Will I be asked? that was affirmatively settled for every West-End Joppite of party-going years; nor was it, What shall I wear? which was determined once for all at the beginning of the season; but, What will be done with me when I get there?  For to go to Mrs. Upjohn’s was not the simple thing that it sounded.  She wished it to be distinctly understood that she did not ask people to her house for their amusement, but for their moral and spiritual improvement; any one could be amused anywhere, but she wished to show her guests that there were pleasanter things than pleasure to be had even in social gatherings, and to teach them to hunger and thirst after better than meat and drink, while at the same time she took pains always to provide a repast as superior to the general run as her sentiments, quite atoning to the Joppites for the spiritual accompaniments to her feast by its material and solid magnificence, which lingered appetizingly in their memories long after they had settled their consequent doctors’ bills.  Yes, the Joppites were not asked to Mrs. Upjohn’s to eat and drink only, or merely to have a good time, with whatever ulterior intentions of so doing they may have gone thither.  They were asked for a purpose,—­a purpose which it was vain to guess, and impossible to escape.  Go they must, and be improved they must, bon gre mal gre, and enjoy themselves they would if they could.

So there were mingled feelings abroad when Mrs. Upjohn’s neatly written invitations found their way into each of the West-End houses, embracing natives and strangers alike in their all-hospitable sweep, and even creeping into some outlying less aristocratic quarters, where confusion worse confounded, in the shape of refurbishing and making over, followed agonizingly in their wake.  The invitations were indited by Miss Maria Upjohn, it being an opportunity to improve that young lady’s handwriting which her mother could not have conscientiously suffered to pass, and stated that Mr. and Mrs. Reuben O. Upjohn requested the honor of your company on Thursday, July 14th, punctually at four o’clock.  R.S.V.P.  Joppa immediately R.S.V.P.’d that it would feel flattered to present itself at that hour, and then looked anxiously around and asked itself “What will it be this time?” The day dawned, and still the great question agitated public minds unsolved.

“There isn’t a word to be coaxed or threatened out of Maria,” said Bell Masters.  “I believe it’s something too awful to tell.  Mr. De Forest, can’t you hazard a guess?”