Her Particular Friend
It was undoubtedly a fault, Mary reflected, to have retained at the staid old age of nine-and- twenty that playfulness, that lack of regard for consequences, which men found so captivating in a girl of nineteen. And yet, she could not help herself, nor indeed would she, if she could. Let others wait for old age to excuse their eccentricities; she would have what fun she might while still young enough to enjoy it.
And was it so very bad a sin, merely to introduce oneself to a young lady whose handsome face and tall figure had caught one’s eye across the pump room?
By no means, were it not that Mary needed no introduction to tell her this young lady’s name—and was, moreover, quite aware that the young lady’s family would not wish for the acquaintance. Mary felt her s
