lse expressions of
affection, as to make any reader believe them to be true. Mrs
Mackenzie was possessed of no such skill.

"Believe her to be my affectionate sister-in-law! I won't believe
her to be anything of the kind," Margaret so spoke of the writer to
herself, when she had finished the letter; but, nevertheless, she
answered it with kind language, saying that she could not stay in
town as she passed through to the Cedars, but that she would pass
one night in Gower Street when she called to pick up Susanna on her
return home.

It is hard to say what pleasure she promised herself in going to
the Cedars, or why she accepted that invitation. She had, in truth,
liked neither the people nor the house, and had felt herself to
be uncomfortable while she was there. I think she felt it to be a
duty to force herself to go out among people who, though they were
personally disagreeable to her, might be socially advantageous. If
Sir John Ball had not been a baronet, the call to the Cedars would
not have been so imperative on her. And yet she was not a tufthunter,
nor a toady. She was doing what we all do,--endeavouring to choose
her friends from the best of those who made overtures to her
of friendship. If other things be equal, it is probable that a
baronet will be more of a gentleman and a pleasanter fellow than a
manufacturer of oilcloth. Who is there that doesn't feel that? It
is true that she had tried the baronet, and had not found him very
pleasant, but that might probably have been her own fault. She had
been shy and stiff, and perhaps ill-mannered, or had at least accused
herself of these faults; and therefore she resolved to go again.

She called with Susanna as she passed through London, and just saw
her sister-in-law.

"I wish you could have stayed," said Mrs Mackenzie.

"I will for one night, as I return, on the 10th of January," said
Miss Mackenzie.

Mrs Mackenzie could not understand what Mr Rubb had meant by saying
that that old maid was soft and pleasant, nor could she understand
Susanna's love for her aunt. "I suppose men will put up with anything
for the sake of money," she said to herself; "and as for children,
the truth is, they'll love anybody who indulges them."

"Aunt is so kind," Susanna said. "She's always kind. If you wake her
up in the middle of the night, she's kind in a moment. And if there's
anything good to eat, it will make her eyes quite shine if she sees
that anybody else likes it. I