XII
But I am allowing myself to wander too far from Mrs. Makely and herletter, which reached me only two days before Thanksgiving.
"MY DEAR MR. HOMOS,--Will you give me the pleasure of your company atdinner, on Thanksgiving-day, at eight o'clock, very informally. Myfriend, Mrs. Bellington Strange, has unexpectedly returned from Europewithin the week, and I am asking a few friends, whom I can trust toexcuse this very short notice, to meet her.
"With Mr. Makely's best regards,
"Yours cordially,
"DOROTHEA MAKELY.
"The Sphinx,
"November the twenty sixth,
"Eighteen hundred and Ninety-three."
I must tell you that it has been a fad with the ladies here to spell outtheir dates, and, though the fashion is waning, Mrs. Makely is a womanwho would remain in such an absurdity among the very last. I will let youmake your own conclusions concerning this, for though, as an Altrurian, Icannot respect her, I like her so much, and have so often enjoyed hergenerous hospitality, that I cannot bring myself to criticise her exceptby the implication of the facts. She is anomalous, but, to our way ofthinking, all the Americans I have met are anomalous, and she has themerits that you would not logically attribute to her character. Ofcourse, I cannot feel that her evident regard for me is the least ofthese, though I like to think that it is founded on more reason than therest.
I have by this time become far too well versed in the politeinsincerities of the plutocratic world to imagine that, because she askedme to come to her dinner very informally, I was not to come in all thestate I could put into my dress. You know what the evening dress of menis here, from the costumes in our museum, and you can well believe that Inever put on those ridiculous black trousers without a sense of theirgrotesqueness--that scrap of waistcoat reduced to a mere rim, so as toshow the whole white breadth of the starched shirt-bosom, and that coatchopped away till it seems nothing but tails and lapels. It is true thatI might go out to dinner in our national costume; in fact, Mrs. Makelyhas often begged me to wear it, for she says the Chinese wear theirs; butI have not cared to make the sensation which I must if I wore it; myoutlandish views of life and my frank study of their customs signalize mequite sufficiently among the Americans.
At the hour named I appeared in Mrs. Makely's drawing-room in all theformality that I knew her invitation, to come very informally, reallymeant. I found myself the first, as I nearly always do, but I had onlytime for a word or two with my hostess before the others began to come.She hastily explained that as soon as she knew Mrs. Strange was in NewYork she had despatched a note telling her that I was still here; andthat as she could not get settled in time to dine at home, she must comeand take Thanksgiving dinner with her. "She will have to go out with Mr.Makely; but I am going to put you next to her at table, for I want youboth to have a good time. But don't you forget that you are going to take_me_ out."
I said that I should certainly not forget it, and I showed her theenvelope with my name on the outside, and hers on a card inside, whichthe serving-man at the door had given me in the hall, as the first tokenthat the dinner was to be unceremonious.
She laughed, and said: "I've had the luck to pick up two or three otheragreeable people that I know will be glad to meet you. Usually it's sucha scratch lot at Thanksgiving, for everybody dines at home that can, andyou have to trust to the highways and the byways for your guests, if yougive a dinner. But I did want to bring Mrs. Strange and you together, andso I chanced it. Of course, it's a sent-in dinner, as you must haveinferred from the man at the door; I've given my servants a holiday, andhad Claret's people do the whole thing. It's as broad as it's long, and,as my husband says, you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb; andit saves bother. Everybody will know it's sent in, so that nobody will bedeceived. There'll be a turkey in it somewhere, and cranberry sauce; I'veinsisted on that; but it won't be a regular American Thanksgiving dinner,and I'm rather sorry, on your account, for I wanted you to see one, and Imeant to have had you here, just with ourselves; but Eveleth Strange'scoming back put a new face on things, and so I've gone in for thisaffair, which isn't at all what you would like. That's the reason I tellyou at once it's sent in."