Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
108
Miss
Barker,
in
her
former
sphere,
had,
I
daresay,
been
made
acquainted
with
the
beverage
they
call
cherry-brandy.
We
none
of
us
had
ever
seen
such
a
thing,
and
rather
shrank
back
when
she
proffered
it
us—
“just
a
little,
leetle
glass,
ladies;
after
the
oysters
and
lobsters,
you
know.
Shell-fish
are
sometimes
thought
not
very
wholesome.”
We
all
shook
our
heads
like
female
mandarins;
but,
at
last,
Mrs
Jamieson
suffered
herself
to
be
persuaded,
and
we
followed
her
lead.
It
was
not
exactly
unpalatable,
though
so
hot
and
so
strong
that
we
thought
ourselves
bound
to
give
evidence
that
we
were
not
accustomed
to
such
things
by
coughing
terribly—
almost
as
strangely
as
Miss
Barker
had
done,
before
we
were
admitted
by
Peggy.
“It’s
very
strong,”
said
Miss
Pole,
as
she
put
down
her
empty
glass;
“I
do
believe
there’s
spirit
in
it.”
“Only
a
little
drop—
just
necessary
to
make
it
keep,”
said
Miss
Barker.
“You
know
we
put
brandy-pepper
over
our
preserves
to
make
them
keep.
I
often
feel
tipsy
myself
from
eating
damson
tart.”
I
question
whether
damson
tart
would
have
opened
Mrs
Jamieson’s
heart
as
the
cherry-brandy
did;
but
she
told
us
of
a
coming
event,
respecting
which
she
had
been
quite
silent
till
that
moment.
“My
sister-in-law,
Lady
Glenmire,
is
coming
to
stay
with
me.”
There
was
a
chorus
of
“Indeed!”
and
then
a
pause.
Each
one
rapidly
reviewed
her
wardrobe,
as
to
its
fitness
to
appear
in
the
presence
of
a
baron’s
widow;
for,
of
course,
a
series
of
small
festivals
were
always
held
in
Cranford
on
the
arrival
of
a
visitor
at
any
of
our
friends’
houses.
We
felt
very
pleasantly
excited
on
the
present
occasion.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
