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257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
228
CHAPTER
XV.
A
HAPPY
RETURN
BEFORE
I
left
Miss
Matty
at
Cranford
everything
had
been
comfortably
arranged
for
her.
Even
Mrs
Jamieson’s
approval
of
her
selling
tea
had
been
gained.
That
oracle
had
taken
a
few
days
to
consider
whether
by
so
doing
Miss
Matty
would
forfeit
her
right
to
the
privileges
of
society
in
Cranford.
I
think
she
had
some
little
idea
of
mortifying
Lady
Glenmire
by
the
decision
she
gave
at
last;
which
was
to
this
effect:
that
whereas
a
married
woman
takes
her
husband’s
rank
by
the
strict
laws
of
precedence,
an
unmarried
woman
retains
the
station
her
father
occupied.
So
Cranford
was
allowed
to
visit
Miss
Matty;
and,
whether
allowed
or
not,
it
intended
to
visit
Lady
Glenmire.
But
what
was
our
surprise—
our
dismay—
when
we
learnt
that
Mr
and
Mrs
Hoggins
were
returning
on
the
following
Tuesday!
Mrs
Hoggins!
Had
she
absolutely
dropped
her
title,
and
so,
in
a
spirit
of
bravado,
cut
the
aristocracy
to
become
a
Hoggins!
She,
who
might
have
been
called
Lady
Glenmire
to
her
dying
day!
Mrs
Jamieson
was
pleased.
She
said
it
only
convinced
her
of
what
she
had
known
from
the
first,
that
the
creature
had
a
low
taste.
But
“the
creature”
looked
very
happy
on
Sunday
at
church;
nor
did
we
see
it
necessary
to
keep
our
veils
down
on
that
side
of
our
bonnets
on
which
Mr
and
Mrs
Hoggins
sat,
as
Mrs
Jamieson
did;
thereby
missing
all
the
smiling
glory
of
his
face,
and
all
the
becoming
blushes
of
hers.
I
am
not
sure
if
Martha
and
Jem
looked
more
radiant
in
the
afternoon,
when
they,
too,
made
their
first
appearance.
Mrs
Jamieson
soothed
the
turbulence
of
her
soul
by
having
the
blinds
of
her
windows
drawn
down,
as
if
for
a
funeral,
on
the
day
when
Mr
and
Mrs
Hoggins
received
callers;
and
it
was
with
some
difficulty
that
she
was
prevailed
upon
to
continue
the
St
James’s
Chronicle,
so
indignant
was
she
with
its
having
inserted
the
announcement
of
the
marriage.
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