In
the matter of her widowhood Lizzie did not encounter very much reproach.
She was not shunned, or so ill spoken of as to have a widely-spread bad
name among the streets and squares in which her carriage-wheels rolled.
People called her a flirt, held up their hands in surprise at Sir
Florian's foolish generosity--for the accounts of Lizzie's wealth were
greatly exaggerated--and said that of course she would marry again.
The general belief which often seizes upon the world in regard to some
special falsehood is very surprising. Everybody on a sudden adopts an idea
that some particular man is over head and ears in debt, so that he can
hardly leave his house for fear of the bailiffs; or that some ill-fated
woman is cruelly ill-used by her husband; or that some eldest son has
ruined his father; whereas the man doesn't owe a shilling, the woman never
hears a harsh word from her lord, and the eldest son in question has never
succeeded in obtaining a shilling beyond his allowance. One of the lies
about London this season was founded on the extent of Lady Eustace's
jointure. Indeed the lie went to state that the jointure was more than a
jointure.
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