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 : still more seldom she found that individual at her mercy, under circumstances in which she could crush her well. She happened, this afternoon, to be specially bilious and morose: as much disposed to gore as any vicious "mother of the herd:" lowering her large head, she made a new charge.

"Your cousin Hortense is an excellent sister, Miss Helstone: such ladies as come to try their life's luck here, at Hollow's cottage, may, by a very little clever female artifice, cajole the mistress of the house, and have the game all in their own hands. You are fond of your cousin's society, I dare say, Miss?"

"Of which cousin's?"

"Oh, of the lady's, of course."

"Hortense is and always has been most kind to me."

"Every sister, with an eligible single brother, is considered most kind by her spinster friends."

"Mrs. Yorke," said Caroline, lifting her eyes slowly, their blue orbs at the same time clearing from trouble, and shining steady and full, while the glow of shame left her cheek, and its hue turned pale and settled: "Mrs. Yorke, may I ask what you mean?"

"To give you a lesson on the cultivation of rectitude: to disgust you with craft and false sentiment."

"Do I need this lesson?"