A gentleman, however, must not use the '^ At Home ''
form. When inviting ladiesi he should '' Request the

honor " or " the pleasure of 's company." For

bachel(»8' balls, dances given by officers of the
Army or the Navy, for club and class-day festivities,
the same rule holds. Where the names of several
persons are appended to the invitation, those of the
members of a committee or of a number of young
men joining together to give a spread, the passive form
of the verb may be substituted, as ''The hon<Mr of
your company is requested.'' One accepts or declines
the kind invitation of the Phi Beta Kappa, the Recep-
tion Committee or other body as the case may require.
Sometimes it is stated to whom the answer should be
sent, as " Please reply to ."

A young girl does not invite gentlemen to the house
m her own name. She may say '' I write in my moth-
er's name," ''My mother wi^es me to say that it
would ^ve us pleasure to see you on Thursday," or
use some phrase showing clearly that the invitation



Digitized by VjOOQ IC



SOCIAL CUSTOMS 77

comes from her mother. If the latter is dead, the
daughter writes in the name of her chaperon, or of
her father. For formal affairs, the invitations
would be given in the name of father and daugh-
ter.
