She does not like Mistress Nutter, and is piqued and displeased by the extraordinary interest which that lady displays towards you.

That is all." "But why should she not like Mistress Nutter ?" inquired Alizon.
"Nay, there is no accounting for fancies," returned Richard, with a faint smile.

"I do not attempt to defend her, but simply offer the only excuse in my power for her conduct." "I am concerned to hear it," said Alizon, sadly, "because henceforth I shall be so intimately connected with Mistress Nutter, that this estrangement, which I hoped arose only from some trivial cause, and merely required a little explanation to be set aside, may become widened and lasting.

Owing every thing to Mistress Nutter, I must espouse her cause; and if your sister likes her not, she likes me not in consequence, and therefore we must continue divided.

But surely her dislike is of very recent date, and cannot have any strong hold upon her; for when she and Mistress Nutter met this morning, a very different feeling seemed to animate her." "So, indeed, it did," replied Richard, visibly embarrassed and distressed.