"Clara will soon find herself no match for Sir Foster, and then she must yield by degrees. One or other must domineer, and the battle will be short: Clara will feel compelled to command her temper in time, and all this nonsense will be forgotten. People always forget the faults of the rich. Clara must give a splendid ball when it is blown over. How did Anna Maria appear to like being a guest at Hatton?"
"She was so happy and agreeable."
"She is very unlike her mother, then. I never would visit Wetheral till your father's tiresome old mother died, and Christobelle followed her example. I expect to hear your sister designated 'Mrs. Tom' every where. Country places are so second-rate in their customs! I hope no one will be guilty of such bad taste before me."
Christobelle had nothing to bring forward upon any subject which she considered likely to amuse; and, was therefore, again silent. Her mother patted the table a few seconds.
"Was Mrs. Hancock at dinner yesterday?"
"Yes, mamma."
"And how did she behave?"
"She was quite silent."
"Mrs. Pynsent is tolerated, because her position in life raises her among the highest of the land; but Mrs. Hancock is unfit for ladies' society:—I was going to say, for female association; but she does not often intrude. Miss Wycherly is a softened likeness of Mrs. Pynsent. There is great insolence in such marked bluntness of manners; one only meets with it in retired country places."
Another long pause.