It had never occurred to her when she had first proposed to herself that Dorothy should become Mrs Gibson that Dorothy herself would have any objection to such a step in life.  Her fear had been that Dorothy would have become over-radiant with triumph at the idea of having a husband, and going to that husband with a fortune of her own.  That Mr Gibson might hesitate, she had thought very likely.  It is thus, in general, that women regard the feelings, desires, and aspirations of other women.  You will hardly ever meet an elderly lady who will not speak of her juniors as living in a state of breathless anxiety to catch husbands.  And the elder lady will speak of the younger as though any kind of choice in such catching was quite disregarded.  The man must be a gentleman or, at least, gentlemanlike and there must be bread.  Let these things be given, and what girl won’t jump into what man’s arms?  Female reader, is it not thus that the elders of your sex speak of the younger?  When old Mrs Stanbury heard that Nora Rowley had refused Mr Glascock, the thing was to her unintelligible; and it was now quite unintelligible to Miss Stanbury that Dorothy should prefer a single life to matrimony with Mr Gibson.

It must be acknowledged, on Aunt Stanbury’s behalf, that Dorothy was one of those yielding, hesitating, submissive young women, trusting others but doubting ever of themselves, as to whom it is natural that their stronger friends should find it expedient to decide for them.  Miss Stanbury was almost justified in thinking that unless she were to find a husband for her niece, her niece would never find one for herself.  Dorothy would drift into being an old maid, like Priscilla, simply because she would never assert herself, never put her best foot foremost.  Aunt Stanbury had therefore taken upon herself to put out a foot; and having carefully found that Mr Gibson was ‘willing,’ had conceived that all difficulties were over.  She would be enabled to do her duty by her niece, and establish comfortably in life, at any rate, one of her brother’s children.  And now Dorothy was taking upon herself to say that she did not like the gentleman!  Such conduct was almost equal to writing for a penny newspaper!

On the following morning, after breakfast, when Brooke Burgess was gone out to call upon his uncle, which he insisted upon doing openly, and not under the rose, in spite of Miss Stanbury’s great gravity on the occasion, there was a very serious conversation, and poor Dorothy had found herself to be almost silenced.  She did argue for a time; but her arguments seemed, even to herself, to amount to so little!  Why shouldn’t she love Mr Gibson?  That was a question which she found it impossible to answer.  And though she did not actually yield, though she did not say that she would accept the man, still, when she was told that three days were to be allowed to her for consideration, and that then the offer would be made to her in form, she felt that, as regarded the anti-Gibson interest, she had not a leg to stand upon.  Why should not such an insignificant creature, as was she, love Mr Gibson or any other man, who had bread to give her, and was in some degree like a gentleman?  On that night, she wrote the following letter to her sister: