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257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
121
“My
dear!
ten
pounds
would
have
purchased
every
stitch
she
had
on—
lace
and
all.”
It
was
pleasant
to
suspect
that
a
peeress
could
be
poor,
and
partly
reconciled
us
to
the
fact
that
her
husband
had
never
sat
in
the
House
of
Lords;
which,
when
we
first
heard
of
it,
seemed
a
kind
of
swindling
us
out
of
our
prospects
on
false
pretences;
a
sort
of
“A
Lord
and
No
Lord”
business.
We
were
all
very
silent
at
first.
We
were
thinking
what
we
could
talk
about,
that
should
be
high
enough
to
interest
My
Lady.
There
had
been
a
rise
in
the
price
of
sugar,
which,
as
preserving-time
was
near,
was
a
piece
of
intelligence
to
all
our
house-keeping
hearts,
and
would
have
been
the
natural
topic
if
Lady
Glenmire
had
not
been
by.
But
we
were
not
sure
if
the
peerage
ate
preserves—
much
less
knew
how
they
were
made.
At
last,
Miss
Pole,
who
had
always
a
great
deal
of
courage
and
savoir
faire,
spoke
to
Lady
Glenmire,
who
on
her
part
had
seemed
just
as
much
puzzled
to
know
how
to
break
the
silence
as
we
were.
“Has
your
ladyship
been
to
Court
lately?”
asked
she;
and
then
gave
a
little
glance
round
at
us,
half
timid
and
half
triumphant,
as
much
as
to
say,
“See
how
judiciously
I
have
chosen
a
subject
befitting
the
rank
of
the
stranger.”
“I
never
was
there
in
my
life,”
said
Lady
Glenmire,
with
a
broad
Scotch
accent,
but
in
a
very
sweet
voice.
And
then,
as
if
she
had
been
too
abrupt,
she
added:
“We
very
seldom
went
to
London—
only
twice,
in
fact,
during
all
my
married
life;
and
before
I
was
married
my
father
had
far
too
large
a
family”
(fifth
daughter
of
Mr
Campbell
was
in
all
our
minds,
I
am
sure)
“to
take
us
often
from
our
home,
even
to
Edinburgh.
Ye’ll
have
been
in
Edinburgh,
maybe?”
said
she,
suddenly
brightening
up
with
the
hope
of
a
common
interest.
We
had
none
of
us
been
there;
but
Miss
Pole
had
an
uncle
who
once
had
passed
a
night
there,
which
was
very
pleasant.
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