A parlor and a kitchen, a smoking-room, a bed-room, and a spare chamber for a friend, all scantily furnished, sufficed for the modest wants of the owner of the property.

If you wished to feast your eyes on luxury you went to the stables.
The stud-farm being described, the introduction to Hardyman's sister follows in due course.
The Honorable Lavinia Hardyman was, as all persons in society know, married rather late in life to General Drumblade.

It is saying a great deal, but it is not saying too much, to describe Mrs.Drumblade as the most mischievous woman of her age in all England.

Scandal was the breath of her life; to place people in false positions, to divulge secrets and destroy characters, to undermine friendships, and aggravate enmities--these were the sources of enjoyment from which this dangerous woman drew the inexhaustible fund of good spirits that made her a brilliant light in the social sphere.

She was one of the privileged sinners of modern society.