Catherine had been taught that a social call should be between fifteen and thirty minutes and that it was rude to stay longer. But since this was her last and Mrs. Ripley invited her to stay, she sat down. "Thank you. You are very kind. In that case, I would love some tea, thank you." She smiled at Mrs. Ripley. "My debut will be next Saturday. Well, it will be a large ball, but we will also celebrate my eighteenth birthday. If we had known you were coming back, we would have already invited you. I will see that you will still receive an invitation."