UPSET. 103 



parties have a definitive and proclaimed object ; 

 but a garden-party means simply much talk and 

 a little tennis, and if one does not find the 

 persons with whom one wants to talk, the result 

 is a depression not to be relieved by casual claret- 

 cup and impervious to sherry and cunningly- 

 contrived sandwiches. 



Every one who drove up to Selstead Towers, 

 however, on a certain day at the beginning of 

 September, felt that the visit would not be an 

 infliction. For the most part the right people 

 were sure to be there ; they were likewise sure 

 to say the right thiug ; and such little leaven of 

 the wrong people as might have crept in would 

 not be strong enough to do mischief. Sir Henry 

 Selstead's return home was, in the first place, a 

 matter for rejoicing, for no one in Wessex kept 

 things going with greater spirit. There was no 

 more pleasant house in the county ; and on this 

 occasion the sun had for once determined to 

 shine. '* Dancing if wet " had been written in 

 the corner of the At Home cards, and to the 

 music of the band of the Royal Wessex Militia 

 a dance had actually been performed with cheer- 

 fulness in the cleared dining-room during a 

 heavy shower. Now the clouds had broken, the 

 sun streamed out, and amid much shaking of 

 hands, " So glad you've come," " I expected to 



