'Et cetera,' added Tom.
'What, in the buxom widow line?' asked Harry.
'No, no!' said Richard, rather indignantly.
'No, in the pathetic line,' said Ethel; 'but that requires some self-denial.'
'Our tongues don't lose their venom, you see, Harry,' put in the Doctor.
'No indeed, papa,' said Ethel, really anxious to guard her brothers. 'I was very sorry for her at first, and perhaps I pity her more now than even then. I was taken with her pale face and dark eyes, and I believe she was a good wife, and really concerned for her husband; but I can't help seeing that she knows her grief is an attraction.'
'To simple parsons,' muttered Tom along the tube of his microscope.
'The sound of her voice showed her to be full of pretension,' said Blanche. 'Besides, Mrs. Ledwich's trumpeting would fix my opinion in a moment.'
'Just so,' observed the Doctor.
'No, papa,' said Ethel, 'I was really pleased and touched in spite of Mrs. Ledwich's devotion to her, till I found out a certain manoeuvring to put herself in the foreground, and not let her sorrow hinder her from any enjoyment or display.'