- that is only what would be expected with a brewery like his. And the
connection is everything we should desire. But that is not what I look at. She
is such a very nice girl - no airs, no pretensions, though on a level with the
first. I don't mean with the titled aristocracy. I see very little good in
people aiming out of their own sphere. I mean that Sophy is equal to the best in
the town, and she is contented with that.«
    »I have always thought her very agreeable,« said Rosamond.
    »I look upon it as a reward for Ned, who never held his head too high, that
he should have got into the very best connection,« continued Mrs. Plymdale, her
native sharpness softened by a fervid sense that she was taking a correct view.
»And such particular people as the Tollers are, they might have objected because
some of our friends are not theirs. It is well known that your aunt Bulstrode
and I have been intimate from our youth, and Mr. Plymdale has been always on Mr.
Bulstrode's side. And I myself prefer serious opinions. But the Tollers have
welcomed Ned all the same.«
    »I am sure he is a very deserving, well-principled young man,« said
Rosamond, with a neat air of patronage, in return for Mrs. Plymdale's wholesome
corrections.
    »Oh, he has not the style of a captain in the army, or that sort of carriage
as if everybody was beneath him, or that showy kind of talking, and singing, and
intellectual talent. But I am thankful he has not. It is a poor preparation both
for here and Hereafter.«
    »Oh dear, yes; appearances have very little to do with happiness,« said
Rosamond. »I think there is every prospect of their being a happy couple. What
house will they take?«
    »Oh, as for that, they must put up with what they can get. They have been
looking at the house in St Peter's Place, next to Mr. Hackbutt's; it belongs to
him, and he is putting it nicely in repair. I suppose they are not likely to
hear of a better. Indeed, I think Ned will decide the matter to-day.«
    »I should think it is a nice house; I like St Peter's Place.«
    »Well, it is near the Church, and a genteel situation. But the windows are
narrow, and it is all ups and