It is a pretty place , is n't it ? You see those two headlands out there ? In the morning , when the sun rises , the water between them is just a sea of gold , and that is why Uncle Ephraim had a fancy to call his place Golden Gate . I love it here . It is so nice to have a home of my own . I would be quite content if I had more company . But I have you today , and perhaps Beatrice and Helen will come next week . So I 've really a great deal to be thankful for . '' `` What is your Cousin Abner 's other name ? '' asked Mary , with a vague recollection of hearing of Beatrice and Helen -- somebody -- in Trenton . `` Reed -- Abner Abimelech Reed , '' answered Miss Sally promptly . `` A.A. Reed , he signs himself now . He is very well-to-do , I am told , and he carries on business in town . He was a very fine young man , my Cousin Abner . I do n't know his wife . '' Mary and Ida exchanged glances . Beatrice and Helen Reed ! They knew them slightly as the daughters of a new-rich family who were hangers-on of the fashionable society in Trenton . They were regarded as decidedly vulgar , and so far their efforts to gain an entry into the exclusive circle where the Seymours and their like revolved had not been very successful . `` I 'm afraid Miss Sally will wait a long while before she sees Cousin Abner 's girls , '' said Mary , when they had gone back to the parlour and Miss Sally had excused herself to superintend the washing of Grandmother Temple 's wedding china .
`` They probably look on her as a poor relation to be ignored altogether ; whereas , if they were only like her , XXXXX society would have made a place for them long ago . ''
Abner Beatrice Ephraim Gate Helen Mary Sally Seymours Trenton parlour