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 and ill-bred. She herself, however, was quite at her ease, though eager and interested.

Mrs. Dumaresq smiled rather acidly. "I can scarcely claim the privilege of belonging to what you call 'the great English middle-class,'" she said. "My relations have not been in that sphere."

"But surely," said the new boarder's wife, "you do not consider that you belong to the working class? That would be absurd. You are too modest. Why, business people on such a very large scale as your relatives might almost rank with professional men. My husband comes from Northampton, and I have often heard your brother spoken of as one of the most well-to-do men in the town. Does he keep on the pawnbroking business still? There was some talk of his retiring from that after he was elected Mayor."

For a moment Mrs. Dumaresq looked as if she had received a blow. She went white and red in rapid succession, then rallied, and smiled artificially at the unconscious and unconcerned wife of the new boarder.

"I fancy you misunderstood the drift of my remarks," she said. "And so your husband knows Northampton. Busy town,