‘Exactly so,’ said his wife, smiling.
‘If it is too smart, can’t you give her a hint?’
‘When she left off her mourning, she spoke to me, saying that she could not afford not to wear out what she already had. I quite agreed; and though I could wish there were less stylishness about her, it is pleasant to one’s own eye, and I see nothing to object to.’
‘I’m sure it is no concern of the ladies, then! And how about this lad? One of their wild notions, is not it? I have heard her tell him half-a-dozen times that she was six years his elder.’
‘Four-and-twenty is just the age that young-looking girls like to boast of. I am not afraid on her account; she has plenty of sense and principle, and I believe, too, there is a very sore spot in her heart, poor girl. She plays with him as a mere boy; but he is just at the time of life for a passion for a woman older than himself, and his devotion certainly excites her more than I could wish.’
‘I’ll tell you what, Peter didn’t like it at all.’
‘Peter was certainly not in a gracious mood when he was here last week. I could not make out whether seeing her a governess were too much for him, or whether he suspected me of ill-using her.’
‘No, no; it was rivalry between him and Master Francis!’ said the Doctor, laughing. ‘How he launched out against young men’s conceit when Francis was singing with her. Sheer jealousy! He could see nothing but dilapidation, dissent, and dirt at Laneham, and now has gone and refused it.’
‘Refused Laneham!—that capital college living!—with no
better dependence than his fellowship, and such a curacy as Wrapworth?’