’Itisanunluckytimeforvisitors；nogametobehad，andlambsolatethisyear，andchickenhardlytobehadforloveormoney。’’He’llhavetoputupwithcalves—head，thathewill，’saidMrsGoodenough，solemnly。’IfI’dha’gotmyusualhealthI’dcopyoutareceiptofmygrandmother’sforarolledcalves—head，’andsendittoMrsGibson，—thedoctorhasbeenverykindtomeallthroughthisillness，—IwishmydaughterinCombermerewouldsendmesomeautumnchickens—I’dpass’emontothedoctor，thatIwould；butshe’sbeena—killingof’emall，anda—sendingofthemtome，andthelastshesentshewrotemewordwasthelast。’’Iwonderifthey’llgiveapartyforhim！’suggestedMissPhoebe。’IshouldliketoseeaQueen’scounselforonceinmylife。Ihaveseenjavelin—men，butthat’sthegreatestthinginthelegallineIevercameacross。’’They’llaskMrAshton，ofcourse，’saidMissBrowning。’Thethreeblackgraces，Law，Physic，andDivinity，asthesongcallsthem。’Wheneverthere’sasecondcourse，there’salwaystheclergymanoftheparishinvitedinanyfamilyofgentility。’’Iwonderifhe’smarried！’saidMrsGoodenough。MissPhoebehadbeenfeelingthesamewonder，buthadnotthoughtitmaidenlytoexpressit，eventohersister，whowasthesourceofknowledge，havingmetMrsGibsoninthestreetonherwaytoMrsGoodenough’s。’Yes，he’smarried，andmusthaveseveralchildren，forMrsGibsonsaidthatCynthiaKirkpatrickhadpaidthemavisitinLondon，tohavelessonswithhercousins。Andshesaidthathiswifewasamostaccomplishedwoman，andofgoodfamily，thoughshebroughthimnofortune。’’It’saverycreditableconnection，I’msure；it’sonlyawondertomeashowwe’veheardsolittletalkofitbefore，’saidMrsGoodenough。’Atthefirstlookofthething，Ishouldnotha’thoughtMrsGibsonwasonetohideawayherfinerelationsunderabushel；indeedforthatmatterwe’reallofusfondo’turningthebestbreadtho’thegowntothefront。
Iremember，speakingo’breadths，howI’veundonemyskirtsmanyatimeandofttoputastainoragrease—spotnexttopoorMrGoodenough。He’dasoftkindofheartwhenfirstwewasmarried，andhesaid，sayshe，\"Patty，linkthyrightarmintomyleftone，thenthou’ltbenearertomyheart；\"
andsowekeptupthehabit，when，poorman，he’dadealmoretothinkonthanromancingonwhichsidehisheartlay；soasIsaidIalwaysputmydamagedbreadthsontherighthand，andwhenwewalkedarminarm，aswealwaysdid，noonewasneverthewiser。’’IshouldnotbesurprisedifheinvitedCynthiatopayhimanothervisitinLondon，’saidMissBrowning。’Ifhediditwhenhewaspoor，he’stwentytimesmorelikelytodoitnowhe’saQueen’scounsel。’’Ay，workitbytheruleo’three，andshestandsagoodchance。Ionlyhopeitwon’tturnherhead；goingupvisitinginLondonatherage。Why，IwasfiftybeforeeverIwent！’’ButshehasbeeninFrance，she’squiteatravelledyounglady，’saidMissPhoebe。MrsGoodenoughshookherhead，forawholeminutebeforeshegaveventtoheropinion。’It’sarisk，’saidshe，’agreatrisk。Idon’tlikesayingsotothedoctor，butIshouldnotlikehavingmydaughter，ifIwashim，socheek—by—jowlwithagirlaswasbroughtupinthecountrywhereRobespierreandBonypartewasborn。’’ButBuonapartewasaCorsican，’saidMissBrowning，whowasmuchfartheradvancedbothinknowledgeandinliberalityofopinionsthanMrsGoodenough。
’Andthere’sagreatopportunityforcultivationofthemindaffordedbyintercoursewithforeigncountries。IalwaysadmireCynthia’sgraceofmanner，nevertooshytospeak，yetneverputtingherselfforwards；she’squiteahelptoaparty；andifshehasafewairsandgraces，whythey’renaturalatherage！NowasfordearMolly，there’sakindofawkwardnessabouther—shebrokeoneofourbestchinacupslasttimeshewasatapartyatourhouse，andspiltthecoffeeonthenewcarpet；andthenshegotsoconfusedthatshehardlydidanythingbutsitinacornerandholdhertonguealltherestoftheevening。’’Shewassosorryforwhatshe’ddone，sister，’saidMissPhoebe，inagentletoneofreproach；shewasalwaysfaithfultoMolly。’Well，anddidIsayshewasn’t？butwasthereanyneedforhertobestupidalltheeveningafter？’’Butyouwererathersharp，—ratherdispleased——’’AndIthinkitmydutytobesharp，ay，andcrosstoo，whenIseeyoungfolkscareless。AndwhenIseemydutyclearIdoit；I’mnotonetoshrinkfromit，andtheyoughttobegratefultome。It’snoteveryonethatwilltakethetroubleofreprovingthem，asMrsGoodenoughknows。I’mveryfondofMollyGibson，very，forherownsakeandforhermother’stoo；I’mnotsureifIdon’tthinkshe’sworthhalf—a—dozenCynthias，butforallthatsheshouldnotbreakmybestchinatea—cup，andthensitdoingnothingforherlivelihoodalltherestoftheevening。’BythistimeMrsGoodenoughgaveevidentsignsofbeingtired；Molly’smisdemeanorsandMissBrowning’sbrokenteacupwerenotasexcitingsubjectsofconversationasMrsGibson’snewly—discoveredgoodluckinhavingasuccessfulLondonlawyerforarelation。MrKirkpatrickhadbeen，likemanyothermen，strugglingoninhisprofession，andencumberedwithalargefamilyofhisown；hewasreadytodoagoodturnforhisconnections，ifitoccasionedhimnolossoftime，andif（whichwas，perhaps，aprimarycondition）herememberedtheirexistence。
Cynthia’svisittoDoughtyStreetnineortenyearsagohadnotmademuchimpressionuponhimafterhehadoncesuggesteditsfeasibilitytohisgood—naturedwife。Hewasevenratherstartledeverynowandthenbytheappearanceofaprettylittlegirlamongsthisownchildren，astheytroopedintodessert，andhadtoremindhimselfwhoshewas。Butasitwashiscustomtoleavethetablealmostimmediatelyandtoretreatintoasmallback—roomcalledhisstudy，toimmersehimselfinpapersfortherestoftheevening，thechildhadnotmademuchimpressionuponhim；andprobablythenexttimeherememberedherexistencewaswhenMrsKirkpatrickwrotetohimtobeghimtoreceiveCynthiaforanightonherwaytoschoolatBoulogne。Thesamerequestwasrepeatedonherreturn；butitsohappenedthathehadnotseenhereithertime；andonlydimlyrememberedsomeremarkswhichhiswifehadmadeononeoftheseoccasions，thatitseemedtoherratherhazardoustosendsoyoungagirlsolongajourneywithoutmakingmoreprovisionforhersafetythanMrsKirkpatrickhaddone。HeknewthathiswifewouldfillupalldeficienciesinthisrespectasifCynthiahadbeenherowndaughter；andthoughtnomoreaboutheruntilhereceivedaninvitationtoattendMrsKirkpatrick’sweddingwithMrGibson，thehighly—esteemedsurgeonofHollingford，&；c。&；c。—anattentionwhichirritatedinsteadofpleasinghim。’DoesthewomanthinkIhavenothingtodobutrunaboutthecountryinsearchofbridesandbridegrooms，whenthisgreatcaseofHoughtonv。Houghtoniscomingon，andIhavenotamomenttospare？’