so.«
    »But you are aware, my dear madam,« said Mr. Dorrit, »that my daughters had
the misfortune to lose their lamented mother when they were very young; and
that, in consequence of my not having been until lately the recognised heir to
my property, they have lived with me as a comparatively poor, though always
proud, gentleman, in - ha hum - retirement!«
    »I do not,« said Mrs. General, »lose sight of the circumstance.«
    »Madam,« pursued Mr. Dorrit, »of my daughter Fanny, under her present
guidance and with such an example constantly before her -«
    (Mrs. General shut her eyes.)
    »- I have no misgivings. There is adaptability of character in Fanny. But my
younger daughter, Mrs. General, rather worries and vexes my thoughts. I must
inform you that she has always been my favourite.«
    »There is no accounting,« said Mrs. General, »for these partialities.«
    »Ha - no,« assented Mr. Dorrit. »No. Now, madam, I am troubled by noticing
that Amy is not, so to speak, one of ourselves. She does not care to go about
with us; she is lost in the society we have here; our tastes are evidently not
her tastes. Which,« said Mr. Dorrit, summing up with judicial gravity, »is to
say, in other words, that there is something wrong in - ha - Amy.«
    »May we incline to the supposition,« said Mrs. General, with a little touch
of varnish, »that something is referable to the novelty of the position?«
    »Excuse me, madam,« observed Mr. Dorrit, rather quickly. »The daughter of a
gentleman, though - ha - himself at one time comparatively far from affluent -
comparatively - and herself reared in - hum - retirement, need not of necessity
find this position so very novel.«
    »True,« said Mrs. General, »true.«
    »Therefore, madam,« said Mr. Dorrit, »I took the liberty« (he laid an
emphasis on the phrase and repeated it, as though he stipulated, with urbane
firmness, that he must not be contradicted again), »I took the liberty of
requesting this interview, in order that I might mention the topic to you, and
inquire how you would advise me?«
    »Mr. Dorrit,« returned Mrs. General, »I have conversed with Amy several
times since