Iwanttomakeyourhomeaplaceofrestandcomforttoyou；andIdosowishtocherishyoursweetMolly，asIhopetodo，whenIcometobehermother。Ican’ttakevirtuetomyselfwhichdoesn’tbelongtome。IfI
havetospeakformyself，Ishallsay，\"Goodpeople，findaschoolforyourdaughtersbyMichaelmas，—forafterthattimeImustgoandmakethehappinessofothers。\"Ican’tbeartothinkofyourlongridesinNovember—cominghomewetatnightwithnoonetotakecareofyou。Oh！ifyouleaveittome，Ishalladvisetheparentstotaketheirdaughtersawayfromthecareofonewhoseheartwillbeabsent。ThoughIcouldn’tconsenttoanytimebeforeMichaelmas—thatwouldn’tbefairorright，andI’msureyouwouldn’turgeme—youaretoogood。’’Well，ifyouthinkthattheywillconsiderwehaveacteduprightlybythem，letitbeMichaelmaswithallmyheart。WhatdoesLadyCumnorsay？’’Oh！ItoldherIwasafraidyouwouldn’tlikewaiting，becauseofyourdifficultieswithyourservants，andbecauseofMolly—itwouldbesodesirabletoenteronthenewrelationshipwithherassoonaspossible。’’Tobesure；soitwould。Poorchild！I’mafraidtheintelligenceofmyengagementhasratherstartledher。’’Cynthiawillfeelitdeeply，too，’saidMrsKirkpatrick，unwillingtoletherdaughterbebehindMrGibson’sinsensibilityandaffection。’Wewillhaveherovertothewedding！SheandMollyshallbebridesmaids，’
saidMrGibson，intheunguardedwarmthofhisheart。ThisplandidnotquitesuitMrsKirkpatrick；butshethoughtitbestnottoopposeit，untilshehadapresentableexcusetogive，andperhapsalsosomereasonwouldnaturallyariseoutoffuturecircumstances；soatthistimesheonlysmiled，andsoftlypressedthehandsheheldinhers。ItisaquestionwhetherMrsKirkpatrickorMollywishedthemostforthedaytobeoverwhichtheyweretospendtogetherattheTowers。MrsKirkpatrickwasratherwearyofgirlsasaclass。Allthetrialsofherlifewereconnectedwithgirlsinsomeway。Shewasveryyoungwhenshefirstbecameagoverness，andhadbeenworstedinherstruggleswithherpupils，inthefirstplacesheeverwentto。Hereleganceofappearanceandmanner，andheraccomplishments，morethanhercharacterandacquirements，hadrendereditmoreeasyforherthanformosttoobtaingood’situations；’andshehadbeenabsolutelypettedinsome；butstillshewasconstantlyencounteringnaughtyorstubborn，orover—conscientious，orsevere—judging，orcuriousandobservantgirls。
Andagain，beforeCynthiawasborn，shehadlongedforaboy，thinkingitpossiblethatifsomethreeorfourinterveningrelationsdied，hemightcometobeabaronet；andinsteadofason，loandbeholditwasadaughter！
Nevertheless，withallherdisliketogirlsintheabstractas’theplaguesofherlife’（andheraversionwasnotdiminishedbythefactofherhavingkeptaschoolfor’youngladies’atAshcombe），shereallymeanttobeaskindasshecouldbetohernewstep—daughter，whomsherememberedprincipallyasablack—haired，sleepychild，inwhoseeyesshehadreadadmirationofherself。MrsKirkpatrickacceptedMrGibsonprincipallybecauseshewastiredofthestruggleofearningherownlivelihood；butshelikedhimpersonally—nay，sheevenlovedhiminhertorpidway，andsheintendedtobegoodtohisdaughter，thoughshefeltasifitwouldhavebeeneasierforhertohavebeengoodtohisson。Mollywasbracingherselfupinherwaytoo。’IwillbelikeHarriet。I