The various mortgages on the property were not visible, and the tradesmen's bills were securely locked in Mrs.Dunn's desk.
The luncheon itself was elaborate, and there was a butler whose majestic dignity and importance made even Edwards seem plebeian by comparison.
Malcolm was at home when they arrived, irreproachably dressed and languidly non-effusive, as usual.

Captain Elisha, as he often said, did not "set much store" by clothes; but there was something about this young man which always made him conscious that his own trousers were a little too short, or his boots too heavy, or something.

"I wouldn't _wear_ a necktie like his," he wrote Abbie, after his first meeting with Malcolm, "but blessed if I don't wish I could _if_ I would!" Caroline, in the course of conversation during the luncheon, mentioned the Moriartys and their sorrow.

The captain tried to head her off and to change the subject, but with little success.

He was uncomfortable and kept glancing under his brows at Malcolm, with whom, under the circumstances, he could not help sympathizing to an extent.