She had been so delighted with the efforts of the prosecuting group to
bring the boss and the mayor to justice that she had permitted Alexina to
invite the Hofers to dinner; but when men of her own proud circle were
accused of crimes against society and threatened with San Quentin, nothing
could convince her of their guilt; and she asked Alexina to follow the
example of Maria and cut that Mrs. Hofer.
Alexina had never been interested in the details of the prosecution; the
large moments of the drama and the social convulsions were enough for her.
She refused to cut Mrs. Hofer, although she ceased to call on her, as her
mother and her husband made such a point of it; but she gave little thought
to the sorrows of that ambitious young matron. She had other fish to fry.
Two great hotels whose interiors had been swept by the fire were renovated
and furnished and their restaurants and ballrooms eagerly patronized. The
Assembly balls were resumed. There were dinners and dances in the Western
Addition, where many of the finest homes in the city had been built during
the past ten or twenty years; and entertaining Down the Peninsula had not
paused for more than two months after the disaster.
Nevertheless, she had exulted in the fact that the husband of her choice
was able to please and entertain her mother-no easy feat. Moreover, as time
went on and interest in the Graft Prosecution wore thin, it was evident
that Mortimer had established himself firmly in his mother-in-law's graces.
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