Sentence:  Old Lady Dacier's bluntness in speaking of her grandson would have shocked Lady Wathin as much as it astonished, had she been less of an ardent <WSD>absorber</WSD> of aristocratic manners. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A person who absorbs. (First attested in the mid 19th century.)<ref name=SOED/>