Several neighbors mentioned having got theirs, while we nodded and implied we would see them there, unable to credit we were being cut. It was surely an oversight. Mrs. Tighe actually brought her card with her. I glanced at it, to see it signed by Lady Menrod. I had nothing against the dowager countess, nor she against me. She would not have left me off her list unless she had been asked to do so by someone close to her. We had not seen Menrod nor heard from him since the day of the riding lesson. It was hard to believe he would be so petty as to exclude us, but impossible not to wonder. He had sent the children down once with a servant. They came rather late in the afternoon, with orders that they be home for tea. He did not bother to enquire first whether the hour for the visit was convenient. We happened to be having a game of whist with a few neighbors at the time, but I was able to get free from the table. We usually invite four, which brings the total of ladies to six, so that we may each have a turn free to gossip.
