"She sat alone yesterday; for Arthur was in another part of the church, and Mrs.Ashton was not there.

Mrs.Ashton is not in good health, she tells me, and cannot always come.

The Rector's pew is the one with green curtains." "Oh, _that_ vulgar-looking girl!" exclaimed Maude, her unjust words--and she knew them to be unjust--trembling on her lips.

"The Grand Sultan might exalt her to be his chief wife, but he could never make a lady of her, or get her to look like one." "Be quiet, Maude," cried the countess-dowager, who, with all her own mistakes, had the sense to see that this sort of disparagement would only recoil upon them with interest, and who did not like the expression of Lord Hartledon's face.

"You talk as if you had seen this Mrs.Ashton, Hartledon, since your return." "I should not be many hours at Hartledon without seeing Mrs.Ashton," he answered.