’Gone; are they?  As it is past wishing that they hadn’t come, it’s the best thing they could do now.  And who is to pay the rent of the house, now they have gone?’ As this was a point on which Dorothy was not prepared to trouble herself at present, she made no answer to the question.

Dorothy at this time was in a state of very great perturbation on her own account.  The reader may perhaps remember that she had been much startled by a proposition that had been made to her in reference to her future life.  Her aunt had suggested to her that she should become Mrs Gibson.  She had not as yet given any answer to that proposition, and had indeed found it to be quite impossible to speak about it at all.  But there can be no doubt that the suggestion had opened out to her altogether new views of life.  Up to the moment of her aunt’s speech to her, the idea of her becoming a married woman had never presented itself to her.  In her humility it had not occurred to her that she should be counted as one among the candidates for matrimony.  Priscilla had taught her to regard herself—­indeed, they had both regarded themselves—­as born to eat and drink, as little as might be, and then to die.  Now, when she was told that she could, if she pleased, become Mrs Gibson, she was almost lost in a whirl of new and confused ideas.  Since her aunt had spoken, Mr Gibson himself had dropped a hint or two which seemed to her to indicate that he also must be in the secret.  There had been a party, with a supper, at Mrs Crumbie’s, at which both the Miss Frenches had been present.  But Mr Gibson had taken her, Dorothy Stanbury, out to supper, leaving both Camilla and Arabella behind him in the drawing-room!  During the quarter of an hour afterwards in which the ladies were alone while the gentlemen were eating and drinking, both Camilla and Arabella continued to wreak their vengeance.  They asked questions about Mrs Trevelyan, and suggested that Mr Gibson might be sent over to put things right.  But Miss Stanbury had heard them, and had fallen upon them with a heavy hand.

‘There’s a good deal expected of Mr Gibson, my dears,’ she said, ’which it seems to me Mr Gibson is not inclined to perform.’

’It is quite indifferent to us what Mr Gibson may be inclined to perform,’ said Arabella.  ’I’m sure we shan’t interfere with Miss Dorothy.’

As this was said quite out loud before all the other ladies, Dorothy was overcome with shame.  But her aunt comforted her when they were again at home.

’Laws, my dear; what does it matter?  When you’re Mrs Gibson, you’ll be proud of it all.’