"Companion-help," repeated Mrs. Carberry, unmoved. "And no one would have
taken her up at all if Lady Susan hadn't made such a silly fuss of her.
It's absurd, when her brother's nothing more than Mr. Coventry's estate
agent. I always think it's a great mistake to take people like that out of
their position. One generally regrets it afterwards."
"Still, I believe the Lovells were quite a good family--West Country
people--lost money, you know." Miss Caroline's conscience drove her into
making this admission. Also, she wanted very much to know how Mrs. Carberry
would meet it. Mrs. Carberry took it in her stride.
"That's just it. They've lost money--mixed with the wrong sort of people.
Losing money so often involves losing caste, too. If this story proves
to be true, I shall be very glad indeed that I never allowed my daughter
Muriel to make friends of these Lovells. We shall soon know," she added, a
note of hungry anticipation in her voice. "The part about the engagement is
true, without doubt, since it came direct from the Oldstone Cottage cook.
Besides, one could see that this Lovell girl was angling to catch Mr.
Coventry. If the engagement is broken off, we may feel pretty sure, I
think, that the rest of the story's true, too.
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