“George dear,” said Lavvy, with a melancholy smile, “after what has passed, I am sure Ma will tell Pa that he may tell Bella we shall all be glad to see her and her husband.”
Mr. Sampson said he was sure of it too; murmuring how eminently he respected Mrs. Wilfer, and ever must, and ever would. Never more eminently, he added, than after what had passed.
“Far be it from me,” said Mrs. Wilfer, making deep proclamation from her corner, “to run counter to the feelings of a child of mine, and of a youth,” Mr. Sampson hardly seemed to like that word, “who is the object of her maiden preference. I may feel—nay, know—that I have been deluded and deceived. I may feel—nay, know—that I have been set aside and passed over. I may feel—nay, know—that after having so far overcome my repugnance towards Mr. and Mrs. Boffin as to receive them under this roof, and to consent to your daughter Bella’s,” here turning to her husband, “residing under theirs, it were well if your daughter Bella,” again turning to her husband, “had profited in a worldly point of view by