I will not invite Ira Smallwood.” “But it’s rude to invite Eliza and not her uncle.” “Next I suppose you’ll tell me it’s just as rude to invite one partner without the other.” “Well, it is, especially since both of them are clients of my bank.” “Then give a party at your bank. You can fill the place with squatters and claim-jumpers for all I care.” “Would you serve as hostess?” “I most certainly would not. I took on the schoolhouse because there was no one else who could do it, but my charity goes no further. I will not invite people into my home whom I consider unfit company for my daughter.” “She’s my daughter too,” her husband pointed out. “Then I’m surprised you don’t take a greater interest in her future.” “I offered to send her to any Eastern school she liked, but she refused every one of them” Sanford said somewhat pettishly. “What more can I do?” “Find her a husband.” “A husband!” Sanford echoed as though the idea had never occurred to him before.
