And now let us look into the breakfast-room of “The Shrubbery,” as Mrs Franklin’s house is called.
Mary and her mother are sitting together, the former adding some little adornments to her evening dress, and the latter knitting.
“Don’t you like Mark Rothwell, mamma?”
“No, my child.”
“Oh! Mamma! What a cruelly direct answer!”
“Shouldn’t I speak the direct truth, Mary?”
“Oh! Yes, certainly the truth, only you might have softened it off a little, because I think you must like some things in him.”
“Yes, he is cheerful and good-tempered.”
“And obliging, mamma?”
“I’m not so sure of that, Mary; self-indulgent people are commonly selfish people, and selfish people are seldom obliging: a really obliging person is one who will cross his own inclination to gratify yours, without having any selfish end in view.”