Sentence:  As may be supposed, the business could not but suffer by these long hours passed in drunkenness and <WSD>scandalmongery</WSD>, but Mrs, Eusville had three daughters to bring out, and she hoped — when she had disposed of her shop, and her feet were set on the redoubtable staircase of Cork Hill — that her aristocratic friend would extend to her a corial helping hand. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The act of listening to and telling scandalous rumors.