ABSTRACT
Though I was no longer of a temper to reject the means of comfort which still remained within my reach, or scornfully to repulse the mercies both of God and man, I had accepted with reluctance the asylum offered by the clergyman to whom Miss Mortimer had recommended me; for the reserve which shrinks from obligation, is one of the most unconquerable forms of pride. Besides, though the Doctor’s professional duties had made me somewhat acquainted with him, his family were, even by character, strangers to me. The state of Miss Mortimer’s health had long precluded us from paying or receiving visits; and my friend had none of those habits of moral portrait-painting which seduce so many into caricature. My reluctance to accept of the good man’s hospitality, had, however, yielded partly to necessity, partly to the recollection that I had once heard the ‘Doctor’s lady’ called ‘the cleverest woman in the county.’ For ability I had always entertained a high regard; which is one of vanity’s least bare-faced ways of claiming kindred with it. A residence with persons of education and good manners was irresistible, when the only alternative was an abode in a mean lodging, in which pride or prudence would forbid me to receive even the few who still owned my acquaintance. I had therefore consented to remain with Dr — till an answer should arrive from the sister to whom he had written on my behalf.
