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was Sunday afternoon.

“We must re-ally, Ka-rel, pay a coup-le of vis-its, this af-ter-noon,” drawled Cateau van Lowe.

Karel assented: it was visiting-day.

“Where?” he asked.

She named one or two acquaintances:

“And then we must al-so go to Aunt and Un-cle Ruyvenaer; it’s their turn. . . . And then, Ka-rel, to your sis-ter, to Con-stance. . . .”

“Hadn’t we better wait till Van der Welcke’s there? Otherwise we shall have to go again.”

“I don’t think it looks friend-ly. . . to wait till Van der Wel-cke comes. . . . Mamma did set us the exam-ple, Ka-rel, you know.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better, Cateau, for you to go alone first: then I can call on Van der Welcke later. Or do you think I ought to wait until Van der Welcke has been to see me?”

“We won’t cal-culate it quite so close-ly as all that,” said Cateau, generously. “It looks as if we were not friend-ly. . . . It would be bet-ter if you came with me to-day, Karel.”

So they decided both to call on Constance that afternoon; and they were on the point of starting when the bell rang and Adolphine van Saetzema entered: