meet expressly to eat?"

"And Mrs. Hildreth's piano is such an old kettle, too! I felt it almost
an insult to be asked to play on it."

"Yes; with such a sweet voice as yours, Clara, you ought to have a
perfect instrument. But where is Mrs. Clavering? She seems to have
withdrawn herself entirely from the world; we never see her now."

"She is not here," said Clara, coldly. "She does not live with us."

"No! Where is she then?" inquired Mrs. Markham, with more interest than
Clara liked. "She is a lovely creature. George fell quite in love with
her."

The girls seemed embarrassed; but Fanny's amiable expression advanced to
the rescue--

"The fact is, dear Mrs. Markham, we were somewhat disappointed in
Lewis's wife. She is very beautiful and accomplished, and, I dare say,
means well--in fact, I'm sure that her heart is very good, and all that;
but she hurt poor Laura's feelings so dreadfully one day that we really
had to notice it in spite of our love for Lewis. It almost breaks my
heart to think of it; but Cora was so violent after Laura once advised
her, in a mild, sisterly way, to be more economical (she _was_
extravagant), that we felt it our duty to rise against it; and she left
the house in great displeasure, making poor Lewis believe, of course,
what she liked. I _don't_ think she meant it," continued Fanny; "but it
_seemed_ unkind. I do not think she intended to be"--

"Then why did you notice it?" asked Mrs. Markham, abruptly. "I would
have found what palliation I could to prevent such a break up of ties."

This was something of a poser, and the two sisters exchanged glances;
but Fanny once more exerted her soft tones in behalf of "poor Laura."

"You know we could not hesitate between our own sister and Mrs.
Clavering. We could not have her insulted by a stranger, however
ignorant she may be of intentional wrong."

"But your brother is--your brother, is he not?"

Here Laura entered, and the conversation was stopped, to the infinite
relief of Fanny and Clara, who began to see that there was really
nothing to boast of in their treatment of Cora. The truth was, Mrs.
Markham had been on the opposite side of the street when they one
morning brushed against their sister-in-law with their usual
impertinence, and, amused at the scene, she tried to find out the cause
of it. On her return home, after her endeavors, she related what she
knew to her brother, and made her comments.

"Really, George, the idea of