ThatafternoonthestoreofHamiltonandCompanywasvisitedbyagoodlynumberofSouthHarnissresidents。Thateveningthereweremore。ThenewsthatMary-’GustaLathropwasathomeandwas“tendin’store“forherunclesspreadandwasmuchdiscussed。Themajorityofthosewhocamedidsonotbecausetheycontemplatedpurchasingextensively，butbecausetheywishedtoseewhateffectthefashionablefinishingschoolhadhaduponthegirl。Thegeneralopinionseemedtobethatit“hadn’tchangedheramite。“Thisresult，however，wasconsideredadesirableonebythemajority，butwasbysomecriticized。AmongthecriticswasMrs。RebeccaMullet，whosedaughterIrenealsowasawayatschoolundergoingthefinishingprocess。
“Well！“declaredMrs。Mullet，withdecision，assheandherhusbandemergedfromthestoretogether。“Well！IfTHAT’Sasampleofwhattheschoolshegoestodoesforthemthatspendtheirmoneyonit，I’mmightygladwedidn’tsendourRenathere，ain’tyou，Christopher？“
Mr。ChrisMullet，whohadreceivedthatveryweekabillforhisdaughter’s“extras，“utteredaferventassent。
“Youbetyou！“hesaid。“ItcostsenoughwhereRenais，withoutsendin’hertonomoreexpensiveplace。“
Thiswasnotexactlythereplyhiswifehadexpected。