Even the lethargic mother would so far bestir herself on such an occasion.

They had only just arrived.

The card was at the residence waiting for them.
No one in Barchester had seen them.

What better opportunity could they have of showing themselves to the Barchester world?
Some few old friends, such as the archdeacon and his wife, had called and had found the doctor and his eldest daughter, but the _elite_ of the family were not yet known.
The doctor indeed wished in his heart to prevent the signora from accepting the bishop's invitation, but she herself had fully determined that she would accept it.

If her father was ashamed of having his daughter carried into a bishop's palace, she had no such feeling.
"Indeed, I shall," she had said to her sister who had gently endeavoured to dissuade her, by saying that the company would consist wholly of parsons and parsons' wives.