There had been no hesitation in the laying on of the paint.

At that last meeting Lady Carbury had been very soft, very handsome, and very winning; Mr Broune had given the order with good will, and it had been obeyed in the same feeling.
Therefore, though the crushing had been very real, there had also been some elation; and as a net result, Lady Carbury was disposed to think that her literary career might yet be a success.

Mr Leadham's cheque had been for a small amount, but it might probably lead the way to something better.

People at any rate were talking about her, and her Tuesday evenings at home were generally full.

But her literary life, and her literary successes, her flirtations with Mr Broune, her business with Mr Booker, and her crushing by Mr Alf's Mr Jones, were after all but adjuncts to that real inner life of hers of which the absorbing interest was her son.