Katherine Mansfield, seeks to expose, in her shortstories, the inner workings of the human mind with a remarkable insight. "A Cup of Tea" is  astudy of the mind of a society lady, Rosemary Fell.

Rosemary Fell was not very beautiful. She was young, brilliant, extremely modern, well-dressed, well read in the new books. her husband adored her. They were very rich, she could buy anything she liked. Shopping was a passion for her.

On a rainy day, when she ws coming out from a shop carrying her huge purchases, a girl, actually shivering in the cold, requested her to have the price of a cup of tea. She was young, then and dark with beautiful eyes. Rosemary thought of an adventures. She asked the girl to go home with her in the car and have tea. The girl was afraid that she might be handed over to the police.

Rosemary took her home and the girl, Miss Smith was fascinated by the room, costly furniture and rings. She was trying to make her comfortable, forgetting the fact that Miss Smith was hungry. Tea was brought and in a motherly attitude she helped her to eat bread and sandwiches and filled her with cream and sugar. Guly after the refreshment Miss Smith looked a new being with tangled hair, dark lips and deep lighted eyes.

Just then Rosemary's husband Philip entered. He took her aside and told her that it was not good to keep a girl at home, Philip added that the girl was astonishined pretty. He enquired whether she build remain for dinner. Feminine envy overcame Rosemary. She could not bear the factor taht the girl was called prettier. She gave three pounds to Miss SMith and sent her out at once. She clung to her husband and earnestly enquired whether she was pretty.

What could not be achieved by advice was made possible by creating feminine envy.