Since the time
when they had become exceedingly rich, about ten years before, they had
made a grand tour of the hotels of this country and Europe. By so doing
Mrs. Parsons and her daughter felt that they became a part of the social
life of the cities which they visited. Although they had been used to
plain, if not slovenly, house-keeping before the money came, both the
wife and daughter had evolved into connoisseurs of modish and luxurious
hotel apparatus and garniture. They had learned to revel in many
courses, radiantly upholstered parlors, and a close acquaintance with
the hotel register. Society for them, wherever they went, meant finding
out the names of the other guests and dressing for them, being on easy
terms with the head waiter and elevator boy, visiting the theatres, and
keeping up a round of shopping in pursuit of articles of apparel. They
wore rich garments and considerable jewelry, and plastered
themselves--especially the daughter--with bunches of violets or roses
self-bestowed. Mrs. Parsons was partial to perfume, and they both were
addicted to the free consumption of assorted bonbons. To be sure they
had made some acquaintances in the course of their peregrinations, but
one reason for moving to New York was that Mrs.
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