“It’s the old principle, I suppose,” said Charlotte, “of ‘Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men.’ ”
“Yes, but,” persisted Charlotte, “when you are like as other men.”
“Well, then—not so bad, then,” said Charlotte, laughing—“Mrs. Willing takes comfort in thinking she is only expensive, while Mrs. Norton is extravagant. Every body has their besetting sin it seems.”
“I wonder what ours is,” said Emma.
“If we have one,” said Charlotte, laughing. “For my part, I think we approach perfection as near as possible—‘Sans peur et sans reproche.’ ”
“Sans peur, certainly,” said Emma, in the same tone of playful mockery, “if not sans reproche. Well, but what do we abuse others most for?” she added. “For, depend upon it, that’s the particular weakness we are given to ourselves.”
“What do we most criticise others for?” said Charlotte. “Why, for abusing others, I think. And we are called satirical, you know. ‘People in glass houses should not throw stones.’ ”
“No,” said Emma carelessly. “That is, if they care about having their windows broken.”
“Nobody likes to have their windows broken,” said Mrs. Appleton gravely, who, just entering, caught the last part of the sentence, which she took literally, with a true housekeeper’s feeling.
“That’s true, mother,” said the girls, laughing at the odd application of her remark. “It’s very true, though you did not mean it.”