She suspected that there was something back of Miss Panney's words.
"If I heard anybody say that, madam, meaning it, I don't think they would care to say it to me again.

But leaving out all that and looking at the matter with my lights, it does seem to me that if Mr.Haverley wanted a mistress for his house, and felt inclined to marry Miss Cicely Drane, he couldn't make a better choice." "Choice!" repeated Miss Panney, sarcastically.

"He has no choice to make.
That is settled, and that is the very reason why people will talk the more and sharper, and nothing you can say, Madam Jane La Fleur, will stop them.

Not only does this look like a scheme to marry Mr.Haverley to a girl who can bring him nothing, but to break off a most advantageous match with a lady who, in social position, wealth, and in every way, stands second to no one in this county." "And who may that be, please ?" asked La Fleur.
Miss Panney hesitated.

It would be a bold thing to give the answer that was on her tongue, but she was no coward, and this was a crisis of importance.