child and that s a spoilt one is he not very delicate inquired i noticed a pretty but very fragile looking boy looking out of the window of the dining room when we arrived that s him yes he is fragile enough no wonder when he with grown up people and has a bottle of wine all to himself how shocking i exclaimed what sort of wine oh i don t know it puts one out of patience even to look at him though of course it is his father s fault and how old is this terrible gentleman inquired mr carelessly seven � though he might be seventy from his old fashioned ways i meant his father oh he � well i m sure i don t know he looks as brown and withered and taking his manners into account as rough as a what do you call em � things you have at � a however are sweet inside observed that s just what mr says his notion is that ill health makes the man but that he has a kind heart but there as i once ventured to tell him perhaps mr you want to get some of mr s in which case you will be disappointed since every single one of them will go to little that was very frank and like yourself observed mt with gentle approval but who is mt no one to speak of a friend of mr w va a from a thorn in the same house with him a man of good and breeding but who has thrown all the chances of life away and himself it you have known such cases yourself dare say mr yes the word was snapped out sullenly like the closing of a spring lock to the ears of his visitor the tone seemed only to express contempt in sympathy with her own for all such ne wells but knew that the conversation had somehow become distasteful to her father as usual therefore she instantly came to his relief what is it this mr has done which is so dreadful p she inquired it was natural to her to feel pity for persons in misfortune even when rather than indignation and a desire for further well instead of entering a profession like every other young man in his position the poor creature took to writing � writing stories but if he didn t write other people s names on said laughing which would be a very wicked sort of story why should he not there is no harm in it my dear young lady of course there is no harm in it said mrs gravely � that is as an amusement but as i was just now remarking about painting had the happiness to find your father agreed with me the calling of letters is not one to be undertaken seriously by � well i don t say gentlemen because i don t wish to be personal and this young man apart from i pursuit is very � by persons who have been bom to better things what do you say mr my dear madam it is unnecessary for me to say anything you have expressed my own sentiments in the happiest manner it must be however that a man may do what he likes so long as he remains single the evil is when a woman attempts to gain a position for herself by any other means save those which are in accordance with common and � the fitness of things we shall have the pleasure of seeing you at the table i conclude p for mrs had risen to go oh certainly i then i shall have the honour of introducing you to the professor i he is the hills just now in pursuit t p v a n o � r a i in a inn aa under my wing and with a pleasant nod that would have been somewhat familiar but that it was by a certain and swan like movement which her on momentous occasions mrs swam out of the room a very remarkable woman observed mr when the door had closed behind her but my dear papa said hesitatingly she did not strike me as being � quite a lady she didn t she was my and a d xi n t find a descent fault where there is no pretence i confined myself to saying she was remarkable she is a woman of character and has already been of the greatest use to us by giving us the du pays you think it was wrong of me to her brains and especially to lead her to believe she had made such a favourable impression on us p yet she came here to ours and to produce that veiy impression do you suppose she really came to give me a you may take my word for it she has forgotten all about it and in that case i am glad it was or we should perhaps have made acquaintance with it in the form of some at the table chapter vi � a descent it was soon made known to the guests at the that the honourable george and his daughter would honour the with their presence but what was by no means so certain and was among the great powers with considerable energy and bitterness was where were they to sit from the very earliest ages this question has always been a supreme one and very much to my content for when i read of the eminent specimens of humanity who have made a point of this matter of and behold living ones concerning themselves about it and reflect that i myself don t care one button where i sit provided the chair is comfortable and not in a draught i cannot but experience some sensation of superiority to my mind there are few things so curious as to 