pediments interfere with their natural tastes.
Household management is to them the object of their talents, the subject
of their interests, the vehicle of their hopes and fears, the medium
through which their affections are manifested, and much of their
benevolence gratified. If it be true, as has been said, that there is
no good quality of a woman's heart and mind which is not necessary to
perfect housekeeping, it follows that there is no power of the mind or
affection of the heart which may not be gratified in the course of its
discharge. As Margaret and her guest enjoyed their pheasant, their
table drawn close to the sofa and the fire, that Maria might be saved
the trouble of moving, their talk was of tradespeople, of shopping at
Deerbrook, and the market at Birmingham; of the kitchen and store-room,
and the winter and summer arrangements of the table. The foot-boy, whom
Margaret was teaching to wait, often forgot his function, and stood
still to listen, and at last left the room deeply impressed with the
wisdom of his instructor and her guest. When the dinner and the wine
were gone, they sang, they gossiped, they quizzed. The Greys were
sacred, of course; but many an anecdote came out, told honestly and with
good-nature, of dear old Mrs Enderby, and her talent for being pleased;
of Mrs Rowland's transactions abroad and at home--all regulated by the
principle of eclipsing the Greys; and of Mrs Howell's and Miss Miskin's
fine sentiments, and extraordinary pieces of news. Margaret produced
some of her brother-in-law's outlines, which she had picked up and
preserved--sketches of the children, in the oddest attitudes of
children--of Dr Levitt, resting his book on the end of his nose, as he
read in his study-chair--of Mrs Plumstead, exasperated by the arrival
of an illegible letter--of almost every oddity in the place. Then out
came the pencils, and the girls supplied omissions. They sketched Mr
Hope himself; listening to an old woman's theory of her own case; they
sketched each other. Mr Enderby was almost the only person omitted
altogether, in conversation and on paper.

"Where can I have hidden my work bag?" asked Maria, after tea.

"You laid it beside you, and I put it away," said Margaret. "I wanted
to see whether you could spend a whole afternoon without the feel of
your thimble. You shall have it again now, for you never once asked for
it between dinner and tea."

"I forgot it: but now you must give it