Their name was Compson, and their father was rector of their
native village, Upcombe. Dolly liked them very much, and was proud
of their acquaintance, because they were reckoned about the most
distinguished pupils in the school, their mother being the niece of
a local viscount. Among girls in middle-class London sets, even so
remote a connection with the title-bearing classes is counted for a
distinction. So when Winnie Compson asked Dolly to go and stop with
her at her father's rectory during three whole weeks of the summer
holidays, Dolly felt that now at last by pure force of native worth
she was rising to her natural position in society. It flattered her
that Winnie should select her for such an honor.
The preparations for that visit cost Dolly some weeks of thought
and effort. The occasion demanded it. She was afraid she had no
frocks good enough for such a grand house as the Compsons.
"Grand" was indeed a favorite epithet of Dolly's; she applied it
impartially to everything which had to do, as she conceived, with
the life of the propertied and privileged classes.
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