Page:Romance & Reality 2.pdf/80

78 at least for their antiquity. Mrs. Clarke comforted herself by the moral reflection of, "Money is every thing in this world," and giving vent to her spleen by an occasional sneer; while Mr. Sillery bore it all with a tolerably good grace, and meditated how soon he should be able to manage a separation. In a few days the news was whispered through the village. Nothing circulates so rapidly as a secret. One made one remark, and another made another;—some said, "how shameful!"—others, "how silly!"—but the sum total of all their remarks seemed to be the old proverb, "No fool like an old one!"