Mrs.Townley was a very clever and tactful woman.
She guessed that General Armour and his wife were not likely to come to town, but that must not appear, and the invitation should be on a different basis--as it was.
It is probable that Marion saw through the delicate plot, but that did not make her like Mrs.Townley less.

These little pieces of art make life possible, these tender fictions! Marion was, however, not in good humour; she was nervous and a little petulant.

She had a high-strung temperament, a sensitive perception of the fitness of things, and a horror of what was gauche; and she would, in brief, make a rather austere person if the lines of life did not run in her favour.

She had something of Frank's impulsiveness and temper; it would have been a great blessing to her if she had had a portion of Richard's philosophical humour also.

She was at a point of tension--her mother and Richard could see that.