And the doctor--proud, arrogant, contradictory, headstrong as he
was--why did he bear to be thus snubbed? Because he knew that the
squire of Greshamsbury, when struggling with debt and poverty, required
an indulgence for his weakness. Had Mr Gresham been in easy
circumstances, the doctor would by no means have stood so placidly with
his hands in his pockets, and have had Mr Umbleby thus thrown in his
teeth. The doctor loved the squire, loved him as his own oldest
friend; but he loved him ten times better as being in adversity than he
could ever done had things gone well at Greshamsbury in his time.

While this was going on downstairs, Mary was sitting upstairs with
Beatrice Gresham in the schoolroom. The old schoolroom, so called, was
now a sitting-room, devoted to the use of the grown-up ladies of the
family, whereas one of the old nurseries was now the modern
schoolroom. Mary well knew her way to the sanctum, and, without asking
any questions, walked up to it when her uncle went to the squire. On
entering the room she found that Augusta and the Lady Alexandrina were
also there, and she hesitated for a moment at the door.

'Come in, Mary,' said Beatrice, 'you know my cousin Alexandrina.' Mary
came in, and having shaken hands with her two friends, was bowing to
the lady, when the lady condescended, put out her noble hand, and
touched Miss Thorne's fingers.

Beatrice was Mary's friend, and many heart-burnings and much mental
solicitude did that young lady give to her mother by indulging in such
a friendship. But Beatrice, with some faults, was true at heart, and
she persisted in loving Mary Thorne in spite of the hints which her
mother so frequently gave as to the impropriety of such an affection.