"
Flossy spoke with the artless prattle of one seeking to make herself
agreeable to a new-comer by explaining the existing order of things, but
she had chosen her words as she proceeded with special reference to her
listener's case. There was nothing in her manner to suggest that she was
trifling with the feelings of the wife of Hon. James O. Lyons, but to
Selma's sensitive ear there was no doubt that the impertinent and
unpatriotic tirade had been deliberately aimed at her. The closing words
had a disagreeably familiar sound. Save that they fell from seemingly
friendly lips they recalled the ban which Flossy had hurled at her at
the close of their last meeting--the ban which had decided her to
declare unwavering hostility against social exclusiveness. Its veiled
reiteration now made her nerves tingle, but the personal affront stirred
her less than the conclusion, which the whole of Flossy's commentary
suggested, that Washington--Washington the hearth-stone of American
ideals, was contaminated also. Flossy had given her to understand that
the houses which she had assumed to be occupied by members of the
Government were chiefly the residences of people resembling in character
those whom she had disapproved of in New York.
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