“She had engaged to go as governess to Mrs. Smallridge’s children⁠—a dear friend of Mrs. Elton’s⁠—a neighbour of Maple Grove; and, by the by, I wonder how Mrs. Elton bears the disappointment?”

“Say nothing, my dear Emma, while you oblige me to read⁠—not even of Mrs. Elton. Only one page more. I shall soon have done. What a letter the man writes!”

“I wish you would read it with a kinder spirit towards him.”