manage thy matters with common decency, at least.”—­“Good lack! Common decency, did you say?  When my sister Polly is able to shew me what it is, I shall hope to be better for her example.”—­“No, thou’lt never be better for any body’s example!  Thy ill-nature and perverseness will continue to keep thee from that.”—­“My ill-temper, you have often told me, is natural to me; so it must become me: but upon such a sweet-tempered young lady as Miss Polly, her late assumed petulance sits but ill!”

“I must have had no bad temper, and that every one says, to bear with thy sullen and perverse one, as I have done all my life.”

“But why can’t you bear with it a little longer, sister?  Does any thing provoke you now” (with a sly leer and affected drawl) “that did not formerly?”

“Provoke me!—­What should provoke me?  I gave thee but a hint of thy fond folly, which makes thee behave so before company, that every one smiles at thee; and I’d be glad to save thee from contempt for thy new good humour, as I used to try to do, for thy old bad nature.”

“Is that it?  What a kind sister have I!  But I see it vexes you; and ill-natured folks love to teaze, you know.  But, dear Polly, don’t let the affection Mr. Murray expresses for me, put such a good-tempered body out of humour, pray don’t—­Who knows” (continued the provoker, who never says a tolerable thing that is not ill-natured) “but the gentleman may be happy that he has found a way, with so much ease, to dispense with the difficulty that eldership laid him under?  But, as he did you the favour to let the repulse come from you, don’t be angry, sister, that he took you at the first word.”

“Indeed,” said I, with a contemptuous smile, “thou’rt in the right, Nancy, to take the gentleman at his first word.  Hold him fast, and play over all thy monkey tricks with him, with all my heart; who knows but it may engage him more?  For, should he leave thee, I might be too much provoked at thy ingratitude, to turn over another gentleman to thee.  And let me tell thee, without such an introduction, thy temper would keep any body from thee, that knows it!”

“Poor Miss Polly—­Come, be as easy as you can!  Who knows but we may find out some cousin or friend of Mr. Murray’s between us, that we may persuade to address you?  Don’t make us your enemies:  we’ll try to make you easy, if we can.  ’Tis a little hard, that you should be so cruelly taken at your word, that it is.”—­“Dost think,” said I, “poor, stupid, ill-judging Nancy, that I can have the same regret for parting with a man I could not like, that thou hadst, when thy vain hopes met with the repulse they deserved from Mr. B.?”—­“Mr. B. come up again?  I have not heard of him a great while.”—­“No, but it was necessary that one nail should drive out another; for thou’dst been repining still, had not Mr. Murray been turned over to thee.”—­“Turned over! You used that word once before:  such great wits as you, methinks, should not use the same word twice.”