:15:10
Very handsome.
:15:12
Very liberal.
:15:14
In my time, a cameo set in pearls
was thought to be sufficient.
:15:18
But it's the hand that sets off
the ring, isn't it?
:15:22
The setting shows
the stone beautifully.
:15:26
But it looks bare
to old-fashioned eyes.
:15:28
I hope you don't mean mine, my dear.
I like all the novelties.
:15:33
My hands were modeled in Paris by
the great Rochet. He should do May's.
:15:38
Show me, child.
:15:40
Her hand is so tempered.
:15:43
These modern sports spread the joints.
:15:46
But the skin is white.
:15:48
When's the wedding?
:15:50
Soon, if only you'll back me up,
Mrs. Mingott.
:15:55
We must give them time
to know each other better.
:15:58
Know each other?
:15:59
Everyone in New York
has always known everyone.
:16:02
Don't wait till the bubble's off
the wine. Marry before Lent.
:16:06
I may catch pneumonia, and I want
to give the wedding breakfast.
:16:10
What a kind offer.
:16:12
Even if she hadn't been
May's grandmother...
:16:14
...Mrs. Manson Mingott would
have been the first to receive...
:16:18
...the required betrothal visit.
:16:21
She was not only the matriarch
of this world...
:16:24
...she was nearly its dowager empress.
:16:26
Much of New York was related to her...
:16:29
...and she knew the remainder
by marriage or by reputation.
:16:33
Though brownstone was the norm...
:16:35
...she lived magisterially
within a large house...
:16:38
...of controversial pale,
cream-colored stone...
:16:43
...in an inaccessible wilderness
near the Central Park.
:16:47
The burden of her flesh
had long since made it impossible...
:16:51
...for her to climb stairs.
:16:53
So with characteristic
independence...
:16:56
...she had established herself
on the ground floor of her house.