. Society does not see, otherwise, what he has to do with marriage.
Bird, be quiet!«
    For, the parrot on his cage above them, presiding over the conference as if
he were a Judge (and indeed he looked rather like one), had wound up the
exposition with a shriek.
    »Cases there are,« said Mrs. Merdle, delicately crooking the little finger
of her favourite hand, and making her remarks neater by that neat action; »cases
there are where a man is not young or elegant, and is rich, and has a handsome
establishment already. Those are of a different kind. In such cases -«
    Mrs. Merdle shrugged her snowy shoulders and put her hand upon the
jewel-stand, checking a little cough, as though to add, »why a man looks out for
this sort of thing, my dear.« Then the parrot shrieked again, and she put up her
glass to look at him, and said, »Bird! Do be quiet!«
    »But, young men,« resumed Mrs. Merdle, »and by young men you know what I
mean, my love - I mean people's sons who have the world before them - they must
place themselves in a better position towards Society by marriage, or Society
really will not have any patience with their making fools of themselves.
Dreadfully worldly all this sounds,« said Mrs. Merdle, leaning back in her nest
and putting up her glass again, »does it not?«
    »But it is true,« said Mrs. Gowan, with a highly moral air.
    »My dear, it is not to be disputed for a moment,« returned Mrs. Merdle;
»because Society has made up its mind on the subject, and there is nothing more
to be said. If we were in a more primitive state, if we lived under roofs of
leaves, and kept cows and sheep and creatures, instead of banker's accounts
(which would be delicious; my dear, I am pastoral to a degree, by nature), well
and good. But we don't live under leaves, and keep cows and sheep and creatures.
I perfectly exhaust myself sometimes, in pointing out the distinction to Edmund
Sparkler.«
    Mrs. Gowan, looking over her green fan when this young gentleman's name was
mentioned, replied as follows:
    »My love, you know the wretched state of the country - those unfortunate
concessions of John Barnacle's! - and you therefore know the reasons for my
being as poor
