, indeed, it may often be observed in life, that spirits like Little Dorrit
do not appear to reason half as carefully as the folks who get the better of
them. The continued kindness of her sister was this comfort to Little Dorrit. It
was nothing to her that the kindness took the form of tolerant patronage; she
was used to that. It was nothing to her that it kept her in a tributary
position, and showed her in attendance on the flaming car in which Miss Fanny
sat on an elevated seat, exacting homage; she sought no better place. Always
admiring Fanny's beauty, and grace, and readiness, and not now asking herself
how much of her disposition to be strongly attached to Fanny was due to her own
heart, and how much to Fanny's, she gave her all the sisterly fondness her great
heart contained.
    The wholesale amount of Prunes and Prism which Mrs. General infused into the
family life, combined with the perpetual plunges made by Fanny into society,
left but a very small residue of any natural deposit at the bottom of the
mixture. This rendered confidences with Fanny doubly precious to Little Dorrit,
and heightened the relief they afforded her.
    »Amy,« said Fanny to her, one night when they were alone, after a day so
tiring that Little Dorrit was quite worn out, though Fanny would have taken
another dip into society with the greatest pleasure in life, »I am going to put
something into your little head. You won't guess what it is, I suspect.«
    »I don't think that's likely, dear,« said Little Dorrit.
    »Come, I'll give you a clue, child,« said Fanny. »Mrs. General.«
    Prunes and Prism, in a thousand combinations, having been wearily in the
ascendant all day - everything having been surface and varnish, and show without
substance - Little Dorrit looked as if she had hoped that Mrs. General was
safely tucked up in bed for some hours.
    »Now, can you guess, Amy?« said Fanny.
    »No, dear. Unless I have done anything,« said Little Dorrit, rather alarmed,
and meaning anything calculated to crack varnish and ruffle surface.
    Fanny was so very much amused by the misgiving, that she took up her
favourite fan (being then seated at her dressing-table with her armoury of cruel
instruments about her, most of them reeking from the heart of Sparkler), and
tapped her sister frequently on the nose with it, laughing all the time.
    »Oh