Aunt Eugenia was occupied all afternoon with a meeting for her charitable society: Fashionable Ladies for the Obliteration of the Poor. Or rather FLOP, which is the preferred nomenclature of Arabella and myself. I asked Aunt once if that meant they were trying to eliminate poverty or the poor themselves. Her answer was swift. “I’m not certain a distinction is needed, Emma. They both achieve the same end. If I had my way, there would be no very poor, only a clean, well-dressed lower class that lives to serve. Now stop asking impertinent questions.”
