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went wherever he was asked, on principle, partly to study American society, and partly because in Washington pastimes seemed to him not so numerous that one could afford to neglect occasions. Of course, at the end of two winters, he had a good many of various kinds, and his study of American society had yielded considerable fruit. When, however, in April, during the second year of his residence, he presented himself at a large party given by Mrs. Bonnycastle, and of which it was believed that it would be the last serious affair of the season, his being there (and still more his looking very fresh and talkative) was not the consequence of a rule of conduct. He went to Mrs. Bonnycastle's simply because he liked the lady, whose receptions were the pleasantest in Washington, and because if he did n't go there he did n't know what he should do; that absence of alternatives having become rather familiar to him in Washington. There were a great many things he did because if he did n't do them he did n't know what he should do. It must be added that in this case, even if there had been an alternative, he would still have decided to go to Mrs. Bonnycastle's. If her