her gloves, as if there were no knowing what it might lead to.
    »Fanny,« Mr. Dorrit continued. »Fanny, Mrs. General, has high qualities. Ha.
Ambition - hum - purpose, consciousness of - ha - position, determination to
support that position - ha, hum - grace, beauty, and native nobility.«
    »No doubt,« said Mrs. General (with a little extra stiffness).
    »Combined with these qualities, madam,« said Mr. Dorrit, »Fanny has - ha -
manifested one blemish which has made me - hum - made me uneasy, and - ha - I
must add, angry; but which I trust may now be considered at an end, even as to
herself, and which is undoubtedly at an end as to - ha - others.«
    »To what, Mr. Dorrit,« returned Mrs. General, with her gloves again somewhat
excited, »can you allude? - I am at a loss to -«
    »Do not say that, my dear madam,« interrupted Mr. Dorrit.
    Mrs. General's voice, as it died away, pronounced the words, »at a loss to
imagine.«
    After which, Mr. Dorrit was seized with a doze for about a minute, out of
which he sprang with spasmodic nimbleness.
    »I refer, Mrs. General, to that - ha - strong spirit of opposition, or - hum
- I might say - ha - jealousy in Fanny, which has occasionally risen against the
- ha - sense I entertain of - hum - the claims of - ha - the lady with whom I
have now the honour of communing.«
    »Mr. Dorrit,« returned Mrs. General, »is ever but too obliging, ever but too
appreciative. If there have been moments when I have imagined that Miss Dorrit
has indeed resented the favourable opinion Mr. Dorrit has formed of my services,
I have found, in that only too high opinion, my consolation and recompense.«
    »Opinion of your services, madam?« said Mr. Dorrit.
    »Of,« Mrs. General repeated, in an elegantly impressive manner, »my
services.«
    »Of your services alone, dear madam?« said Mr. Dorrit.
    »I presume,« retorted Mrs. General, in her former impressive manner, »of my
services alone. For, to what else,« said Mrs. General, with a slightly
interrogative action of her gloves, »could I impute -«
    »To - ha - yourself