There is no lavish and vulgar profusion, and
there is a harmony of color and decoration that makes every room
a picture in itself. Moreover, the house does not grow suddenly
shabby after you leave those parts which are seen by visitors. It
is all genuine and high-toned, like the people who live in it."
"What sort of people are Mrs. Van Berg and her daughter?" Ida asked,
with averted face and low constrained voice.
"Mrs. Van Berg comes of a family that has been aristocratic for
several generations, and one that has been singularly free from black
sheep. She appears to strangers somewhat reserved and stately,
but when you become better acquainted you find she has a warm, kind
heart. But she has a perfect horror of vulgarity. If she had seen
this Sibley take more wine than he ought and make a spectacle of
himself at a public table, she would no more admit him to her parlor
than a Bowery rough. Mere wealth would not turn the scale a hair
in his favor. If she has impressed on her son one trait more than
another, it is this disgust with all kinds of vulgar people and
vulgar vice. I don't think Van will sit down at the same table
with Sibley again, or permit Miss Burton to do so.
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