No doubt she was slow, but though slow she never seemed to drag.

Now she was, after a certain fashion, engaged to marry John Morton and perhaps she was one of the most unhappy young persons in England.
She had long known that it was her duty to marry, and especially her duty to marry well.

Between her and her mother there had been no reticence on this subject.

With worldly people in general, though the worldliness is manifest enough and is taught by plain lessons from parents to their children, yet there is generally some thin veil even among themselves, some transparent tissue of lies, which, though they never quite hope to deceive each other, does produce among them something of the comfort of deceit.

But between Lady Augustus and her daughter there had for many years been nothing of the kind.