All Hollingford felt as if there was a great deal to be done before
Easter this year. There was Easter proper, which always required new
clothing of some kind, for fear of certain consequences from little
birds, who were supposed to resent the impiety of those that did
not wear some new article of dress on Easter-day. And most ladies
considered it wiser that the little birds should see the new article
for themselves, and not have to take it upon trust, as they would
have to do if it were merely a pocket-handkerchief, or a petticoat,
or any article of under-clothing. So piety demanded a new bonnet, or
a new gown; and was barely satisfied with an Easter pair of gloves.
Miss Rose was generally very busy just before Easter in Hollingford.
Then this year there was the charity ball. Ashcombe, Hollingford, and
Coreham were three neighbouring towns, of about the same number of
population, lying at the three equidistant corners of a triangle. In
imitation of greater cities with their festivals, these three towns
had agreed to have an annual ball for the benefit of the county
hospital to be held in turn at each place; and Hollingford was to be
the place this year.
It was a fine time for hospitality, and every house of any pretension
was as full as it could hold, and flys were engaged long months
before.
If Mrs. Gibson could have asked Osborne, or in default, Roger Hamley
to go to the ball with them and to sleep at their house,--or if,
indeed, she could have picked up any stray scion of a "county family"
to whom such an offer would have been a convenience, she would have
restored her own dressing-room to its former use as the spare-room,
with pleasure. But she did not think it was worth her while to put
herself out for any of the humdrum and ill-dressed women who had been
her former acquaintances at Ashcombe. For Mr. Preston it might have
been worth while to give up her room, considering him in the light of
a handsome and prosperous young man, and a good dancer besides. But
there were more lights in which he was to be viewed. Mr. Gibson, who
really wanted to return the hospitality shown to him by Mr. Preston
at the time of his marriage, had yet an instinctive distaste to the
man, which no wish of freeing himself from obligation, nor even the
more worthy feeling of hospitality, could overcome. Mrs. Gibson
had some old grudges of her own against him, but she was not one
to retain angry feelings, or be very active in her retaliation;
she was afraid of Mr. Preston, and admired him at the same time.
It was awkward too--so she said--to go into a ball-room without
any gentleman at all, and Mr. Gibson was so uncertain! On the
whole--partly for this last-given reason, and partly because
conciliation was the best policy, Mrs. Gibson was slightly in favour
of inviting Mr. Preston to be their guest. But as soon as Cynthia
heard the question discussed--or rather, as soon as she heard it
discussed in Mr. Gibson's absence, she said that if Mr. Preston came
to be their visitor on the occasion, she for one would not go to the
ball at all. She did not speak with vehemence or in anger; but with
such quiet resolution that Molly looked up in surprise. She saw
that Cynthia was keeping her eyes fixed on her work, and that she
had no intention of meeting any one's gaze, or giving any further
explanation. Mrs. Gibson, too, looked perplexed, and once or twice
seemed on the point of asking some question; but she was not angry
as Molly had fully expected. She watched Cynthia furtively and in
silence for a minute or two, and then said that, after all, she could
not conveniently give up her dressing-room; and, altogether, they had
better say no more about it. So no stranger was invited to stay at
Mr. Gibson's at the time of the ball; but Mrs. Gibson openly spoke
of her regret at the unavoidable inhospitality, and hoped that they
might be able to build an addition to their house before the next
triennial Hollingford ball.