The Battery was nearly deserted that night, for
at the time we write of only two old men could be seen, leaning over the
railing on the sea-wall and watching in the direction of a ship at
anchor in the stream, and looking as if she was just in from sea.
Mrs. Chapman was to give her ball that night. The lady had for several
weeks given all her mind and energy to the preliminaries of this grand
affair. Who was to be invited, what sort of new dresses she and Mattie
would appear best in, who was to provide the supper, and what the whole
would cost, were subjects which so engaged the lady's attention that she
could think of nothing else. In vain did Chapman demur to the great
expense and the folly of keeping up appearances under such
circumstances. In vain did he insinuate the probable necessity of
inventing a new religion as a means of bringing his revenues up to his
necessities. A necklace of pearls and a diamond ring had been got for
Mattie, and now a demand was made for a new and expensive dress. If
there was anything in the world Chapman admired and submitted to it was
his wife.
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