tall and so handsome, and partly because he was the lord, the head
of the family, and the owner of the house. She was, on the whole, a
good-natured person, though perhaps her temper was a little soured by
her husband having, very unfairly, died before he had given her a right
to call herself Lady Ballindine. She was naturally shy and reserved,
and the seclusion of O'Kelly's Court did not tend to make her less so;
but she felt that the position and rank of her son required her to be
dignified; and consequently, when in society, she somewhat ridiculously
aggravated her natural timidity with an assumed rigidity of demeanour.
She was, however, a good woman, striving, with small means, to do the
best for her family; prudent and self-denying, and very diligent in
looking after the house servants.

Her two daughters had been, at the instance of their grandfather, the
courtier, christened Augusta and Sophia, after the two Princesses of
that name, and were now called Guss and Sophy: they were both pretty,
good-natured girls--one with dark brown and the other light brown hair:
they both played the harp badly, sung tolerably, danced well, and were
very fond of nice young men. They both thought Kelly's Court rather
dull; but then they had known nothing better since they had grown up,
and there were some tolerably nice people not very far off, whom they
occasionally saw: there were the Dillons, of Ballyhaunis, who had
three thousand a-year, and spent six; they were really a delightful
family--three daughters and four sons, all unmarried, and up to
anything: the sons all hunted, shot, danced, and did everything that
they ought to do--at least in the eyes of young ladies; though some of
their more coldly prudent acquaintances expressed an opinion that it
would be as well if the three younger would think of doing something
for themselves; but they looked so manly and handsome when they
breakfasted at Kelly's Court on a hunt morning, with their bright tops,