ABSTRACT
Mrs. Gibson came back full of rose-coloured accounts of London. Lady Cumnor had been gracious and affectionate, ‘so touched by my going up to see her, so soon after her return to England,’ Lady Harriet charming and devoted to her old governess, Lord Cumnor ‘just like his dear usual hearty self;’ and as for the Kirkpatricks, a no Lord Chancellor’s house was ever grander than theirs, and the silk gown of the Q.C. had floated over housemaids and footmen. Cynthia, too, was so much admired; and as for her dress, Mrs. Kirkpatrick b had showered down ball-dresses and wreaths, and pretty bonnets and mantles, like a fairy godmother. Mr. Gibson’s poor present of ten pounds shrank into very small dimensions compared with all this munificence.
