‘I have not accepted it.’
‘That is not required; it is your fate, Phœbe; why don’t you speak, or are you under an embargo from any of the wicked enchanters? Even if so, you might be got off among the pious juveniles.’
‘Papa was so kind as to say I might go wherever Miss Charlecote liked,’ said Phœbe; ‘but, indeed, I had rather do exactly what suits her; I dare say the morning party will suit her best—’
‘The oily popular preachers!’
‘Thank you, Owen,’ laughed Honor.
‘No, now you must accept the whole. There’s room to give the preachers a wide berth, even should they insist on “concluding with prayer,” and it will be a pretty sight. They have the Guards’ band coming.’
‘I never heard a military band,’ ejaculated Phœbe.
‘And there are to be sports for the village children, I believe,’ added Owen; ‘besides, you will like to meet some of the lions—the Archdeacon and his wife will be there.’
‘But how can I think of filling up Mrs. Charteris’s house, without the least acquaintance?’
‘Honey-sweet philosopher, Eloïsa heeds as little how her house is filled, so it be filled, as Jessica did her father’s ring. Five dresses a day, with accoutrements to match, and for the rest she is sublimely indifferent. Fortune played her a cruel trick in preventing her from being born a fair sultana.’