"If that girl were mine--" they would say, and leave you with a stimulated notion of the value of corporal punishment.

When she took to passing examinations and teaching, Elgin considered that her parents ought to be thankful in the probability that she had escaped some dramatic end.

But her occupation further removed her from intercourse with the town's more exclusive circles: she had taken a definite line, and she pursued it, preoccupied.

If she was a brand snatched from the burning, she sent up a little curl of reflection in a safe place, where she was not further interrupted.
Abby, inheriting all these prejudices, had nevertheless not done so badly; she had taken no time at all to establish herself; she had almost immediately married.

In the social estimates of Elgin the Johnsons were "nice people," Dr Henry was a fine old figure in the town, and Abby's chances were good enough.