They thought they accepted you when you made your application; but they are not people of imagination, they could not project themselves into the future, and now they will have to begin again.

But they are people of honor, and they will do whatever is necessary." Newman spent a few moments in narrow-eyed meditation.

"I am not hard on them," he presently said, "and to prove it I will invite them all to a festival." "To a festival ?" "You have been laughing at my great gilded rooms all winter; I will show you that they are good for something.

I will give a party.

What is the grandest thing one can do here?
I will hire all the great singers from the opera, and all the first people from the Theatre Francais, and I will give an entertainment." "And whom will you invite ?" "You, first of all.