I hate to be poor, and we are degradingly poor, offensively poor, miserably poor, beastly poor.

But here I am, left with all the ridiculous parts of the situation remaining, and, added to them all, this ridiculous dress! And if the truth was known, when the Harmon murder was all over the town, and people were speculating on its being suicide, I dare say those impudent wretches at the clubs and places made jokes about the miserable creature's having preferred a watery grave to me.

It's likely enough they took such liberties; I shouldn't wonder! I declare it's a very hard case indeed, and I am a most unfortunate girl.
The idea of being a kind of a widow, and never having been married! And the idea of being as poor as ever after all, and going into black, besides, for a man I never saw, and should have hated--as far as HE was concerned--if I had seen!' The young lady's lamentations were checked at this point by a knuckle, knocking at the half-open door of the room.

The knuckle had knocked two or three times already, but had not been heard.
'Who is it ?' said Mrs Wilfer, in her Act-of-Parliament manner.

'Enter!' A gentleman coming in, Miss Bella, with a short and sharp exclamation, scrambled off the hearth-rug and massed the bitten curls together in their right place on her neck.
'The servant girl had her key in the door as I came up, and directed me to this room, telling me I was expected.