heaven must fail and be
discomfited before this potent instrument of evil, and that, after
all, Bibles and missionaries were much less effective than the
stoppage of the licence, upon which all her agents were bent. At all
events, such an object of interest had swept out from her thoughts the
vague figure of her nephew Frank, and aunt Dora's mysterious anxieties
on his account. When the three ladies approached Elsworthy's, the
first thing that attracted their attention was Rosa, the little Rosa
who had been banished from the shop, and whom Mrs Elsworthy believed
to be expiating her sins in a back room, in tears and darkness;
instead of which the little girl was looking out of her favourite
window, and amusing herself much with all that was going on in Grange
Lane. Though she was fluttered by the scolding she had received, Rosa
only looked prettier than usual with her flushed cheeks; and so many
things had been put into her nonsensical little head during the last
two days, especially by her aunt's denunciations, that her sense of
self-importance was very much heightened in consequence. She looked at
the Miss Wentworths with a throb of mingled pride and alarm, wondering
whether perhaps she might know more of them some day, if Mr Wentworth
was really fond of her, as people said--which thought gave Rosa a
wonderful sensation of awe and delighted vanity. Meanwhile the three
Miss Wentworths looked at her with very diverse feelings. "I must
speak to these people about that little girl, if nobody else has sense
enough to do it," said Miss Leonora; "she is evidently going wrong as
fast as she can, the little fool;" and the iron-grey sister went into
Mr Elsworthy's in this perfectly composed and ordinary frame of mind,
with her head full of the application which was to be made to the
licensing magistrates today, in the parish of St Michael, and totally
unaware that anybody belonging to herself could ever be connected with
the incautious little coquette at the window. Miss Dora's feelings
were very different. It was much against her will that she was going
at all into this obnoxious shop, and the eyes which she hastily
uplifted to the window and withdrew again with lively disgust and
dislike, were both angry and tearful; "Little forward shameless
thing," Miss Dora said to herself, with a little toss of her head. As
for Miss Wentworth, it was not her custom to say anything--but she,
too, looked up, and saw the pretty face at the win