“Why did you introduce him if you don’t approve of him?” asked Mrs. Fluffy, with a feeble attempt to throw the blame on her sister.

“Have I not told you?  In a ball-room girls need plenty of partners—­plenty of men about them.  It makes them look popular and fascinating, and if the gentlemen are handsome and stylish-looking, so much the better.  Mr. Hardcash is just the size to waltz well with Eva—­he shows her off to advantage—­but he is not a man to encourage afterward.  She should not be seen walking or talking intimately with a gentleman who has less than ten thousand a year.”  Mrs. Stunner delivered this ultimatum with the tone of a just judge who will hear of no appeal.

“How can I know how much the gentlemen are worth?” said Sarah pettishly.

“It is your duty as a mother to discover it,” replied the virtuous widow.

“But how?”

“The visitors’ book will tell where a man is from; you can easily get acquainted with some old lady or gentleman from the same place; and—­”

“What! and ask about them!”

“Nonsense!  Speak of them, praise them if you wish, and let the others talk:  you have only to be an interested listener” (here I could imagine Mrs. S. smiling grimly), “and you can soon hear enough.  For instance, commence in this way:  ’Fine fellow, Mr. T. from your part of the country.’  As a general rule the old gentleman will then give you his whole history.  Another time you may say, ’What a pleasant young man that Mr. B. is! but rather inclined to be wild, eh?’ If he is you will soon know it.  You can also cross-question the man himself.  Speak of a little girl he has at home:  if he blushes he is netted already, and lures are useless.  See how he eats his dinner:  that is a good test to judge his position by; not that a few gaucheries will matter if he is very wealthy—­for a judicious mother-in-law can soon correct them—­but for every impropriety he should have a thousand added to his income.  Such things are so intolerable in a poor man!”

“I don’t think Eva would obey me if I did interfere in her affairs,” objected Mrs. Fluffy.

“Her affairs, indeed!  It is your affair.  Of course you want a son-in-law who can keep a comfortable house for you to live in.  You have brought up Eva badly, Sarah, and there is one thing I must tell you about her—­she is entirely too familiar and sisterly with gentlemen.”

“She has a great many beaux,” interrupted Mrs. F.

“It is one of her worst faults,” continued Jane, not listening to her.  “If a girl gets into those sisterly habits with a man, it will never come into his head to marry her.  She may be his chief confidante; he will talk of his lady-love to her, and she may end by being first bridesmaid at his wedding, but nothing nearer.  I don’t approve of it.  One of my maxims is, that a man ought not be well acquainted with the girl he is to marry until the ceremony is performed.”