tral ground. Lady Arabella made it known to Miss
Oriel that her daughter could not meet Mary Thorne, even as strangers
meet; and it was made known to others also. Mrs Yates Umbleby, and
her dear friend Miss Gushing, to whose charming tea-parties none of
the Greshamsbury ladies went above once in a twelvemonth, talked
through the parish of this distressing difficulty. They would have
been so happy to have asked dear Mary Thorne, only the Greshamsbury
ladies did not approve.

Mary was thus tabooed from all society in the place in which a
twelvemonth since she had been, of all its denizens, perhaps the
most courted. In those days, no bevy of Greshamsbury young ladies
had fairly represented the Greshamsbury young ladyhood if Mary
Thorne was not there. Now she was excluded from all such bevies.
Patience did not quarrel with her, certainly;--came to see her
frequently;--invited her to walk;--invited her frequently to the
parsonage. But Mary was shy of acceding to such invitations, and at
last frankly told her friend Patience, that she would not again break
bread in Greshamsbury in any house in which she was not thought fit
to meet the other guests who habitually resorted there.

In truth, both the doctor and his niece were very sore, but they
were of that temperament that keeps all its soreness to itself. Mary
walked out by herself boldly, looking at least as though she were
indifferent to all the world. She was, indeed, hardly treated. Young
ladies' engagements are generally matters of profoundest secrecy, and
are hardly known of by their near friends till marriage is a thing
settled. But all the world knew of Mary's engagement within a month
of that day on which she had neglected to expel Frank's finger from
her hand; it had been told openly through the country-side that she
had confessed her love for the young squire. Now it is disagreeable
for a young lady to walk about under such circumstances, especially
so when she has no female friend to keep her in countenance,
more especially so when the gentleman is such importance in the
neighbourhood as Frank was in that locality. It was a matter of
moment to every farmer, and every farmer's wife, which bride Frank
should marry of those bespoken for him; Mary, namely, or Money. Every
yokel about the place had been made to understand that, by some
feminine sleight of hand, the doctor's niece had managed to trap
Master Frank, and that Master Frank had been sent out of the way so