"I think you said she had had no advantages?"
"None whatever, I should say; not what we would call advantages. I suppose she has learned a few common things."
"She is an orphan?"
Mrs. Busby assented. "Lost her mother last summer."
"I should like to have her more under my own eye than is possible as she is now; a mere day scholar. What do you say to letting her become a member of my family? Of course," added Mrs. Mowbray graciously, "I should not propose to you to charge yourself with any additional burden on her account. As she is an orphan, I should make no difference because of receiving her into my family. I have a professional ambition to gratify, and I like to be able to carry out my plans in every detail. I could do better for Antoinette, if you would let me have her altogether; but I suppose that is not to be thought of."
Mrs. Busby wore an air of deliberation. Mr. Busby was understood to mutter something about "very handsome."
"Will you let me have Antoinette?" said the lady smiling. "I think it would do her no harm."
"Antoinette must content herself at home," Antoinette's mother replied.
"I am accustomed to having her under my own wing."
"And that is a privilege you would not yield to any one else. I understand. Well, what do you say about Miss Carpenter?"
Mrs. Busby looked at her husband. Long experience enabled him to guess at what he was desired to say.