He and his wife dined at Sirenwood, and found
Joe Reynolds's drawings laid out for inspection, while Lady Susan
was advising that, instead of selling them, there should be an
industrial exhibition of all curiosities of art and nature to be
collected in the neighbourhood, and promising her own set of foreign
photographs and coloured costumes, which had served such purposes
many and many a time.
After dinner the good dame tried to talk to Rosamond on what she
deemed the most congenial subjects; but my Lady Rose had no notion
of 'shop' at a dinner-party, so she made languid answer that she
'left all that to the curates,' and escaped to a frivolous young
matron on the other side of the room, looking on while her husband
was penned in and examined on his services, and his choir, and his
system, and his decorations, and his classes, and his schools, for
all or any of which Lady Susan pressed on him the aid of the two
daughters she was leaving at Sirenwood; and on his hint that this
was beyond his parish, she repeated her strong disapproval of the
Vicar of Wil'sbro', whom she had met at dinner the night before, and
besides, the school there had numerous Sunday teachers.
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