migration to London came
round. After much delicate fencing on one side and the other, this was
fixed for the 31st January. The fencing took place between the Dean,
acting on behalf of his daughter, and the ladies of the Manor Cross
family generally. They, though they conceived themselves to have had
many causes of displeasure with Mary, were not the less anxious to keep
her at Manor Cross. They would all, at any moment, have gladly assented
to an abandonment of the London house, and had taught themselves to
look upon the London house as an allurement of Satan, most unwisely
contrived and countenanced by the Dean. And there was no doubt that, as
the Dean acted on behalf of his daughter, so did they act on behalf of
their brother. He could not himself oppose the London house; but he
disliked it and feared it, and now, at last, thoroughly repented
himself of it. But it had been a stipulation made at the marriage; and
the Dean's money had been spent. The Dean had been profuse with his
money, and had shown himself to be a more wealthy man than any one at
Manor Cross had suspected. Mary's fortune was no doubt her own; but the
furniture had been in a great measure supplied by the Dean, and the
Dean had paid the necessary premium on going into the house. Lord
George felt it to be impossible to change his mind after all that had
been done; but he had been quite willing to postpone the evil day as
long as possible.

Lady Susanna was especially full of fears, and, it must be owned,
especially inimical to all Mary's wishes. She was the one who had
perhaps been most domineering to her brother's wife, and she was
certainly the one whose domination Mary resisted with the most settled
determination. There was a self-abnegation about Lady Sarah, a
downright goodness, and at the same time an easily-handled magisterial
authority, which commanded reverence. After three months of residence
at Manor Cross, Mary was willing to acknowledge that Lady Sarah was
more than a sister-in-law,--that her nature partook of divine
omnipotence, and that it compelled respect, whether given willingly or
unwillingly. But to none of the others would her spirit thus humble
itself, and especially not to Lady Susanna. Therefore Lady Susanna was
hostile, and therefore Lady Susanna was quite sure that Mary would fall
into great trouble amidst the pleasures of the metropolis.

"After all," she said to her elder sister, "what is L1,500 a year to
keep up a house