human
I've a mind to give a party, so I have! she said to Hester, one day.
gpt
Your father could easy pay for as nice a party as was ever given on the Hill. He needn't be stingy. And we could get to be friends with all these nice folks----
human
Oh, Mother! sighed Hester.
gpt
Don't be foolish. These people don't really care a thing for us. They'd only laugh. Their houses are not even furnished like ours----
human
I should say not! cried Mrs. Grimes.
gpt
We have some of the most expensive furnichoor you could buy at Stresch & Potter's----
human
Yes. At a department store. Nice people do not furnish their homes in that way. The varnish smells too new on our chairs and tables. We are too new. We never should have come to live on the Hill when father made money.
gpt
How ye talk! exclaimed the astonished Mrs. Grimes.
human
Where would ye have us live--at the Four Corners still?
gpt
Perhaps we wouldn't be so much like fish out of water there,
human
I'm no fish, I'd have ye understand! exclaimed Mrs. Grimes.
gpt
And Mrs. Belding axed me to join a club--the New Century 'tis called. 'Tis all women and our husbands haven't a livin' thing to say in it. I'm goin' to join.
human
The New Century!
gpt
Yes. I'd be glad to be in something that Henry couldn't poke his finger into and boss,
human
But it's never the New Century?
gpt
Why not?
human
That's the most select club on the Hill. Lily's mother belongs, and Mrs. Agnew, and all those folk.
gpt
And why not _me_? demanded her mother.
human
We've got as much money----
gpt
Hush! Stop talking about money if you want to be popular in the New Century Club, said her daughter, who had learned a thing or two herself of late.
human
That is what is the matter with us--we're proud of our money.
gpt
And why not? When Henry began with a shoestring.
human
Well, don't be telling of it! cried Hester.
gpt
These other people got their money so long ago that they've forgotten how they got it. We want to forget, too.