I shouldn't like it to go any farther; but I
can depend on yon, Miss Holland. A trusted woman like you must be choked
up with secrets, I'm sure. I often and often say, Ann Holland knows some
things, and could tell them, too, if she'd only open her lips."
"You're right, Mrs. Brown," said Ann Holland, with a gratified smile;
"you may trust me with any secret."
"Well, then, they say," continued Mrs, Brown, "that Mrs. Chantrey takes
more than is good for her. She's getting fond of it, you know; anything
that'll excite her; and ladies, can get all sorts of things, worse for
them a dozen times than what poor folks take. They say she doesn't know
what she's saying often."
"Dear, dear!" cried Ann Holland, in a sorrowful voice; "it can't be
true, and Mr. Chantrey away! She's such a sweet pleasant-spoken young
lady; I could never think it of her. He brought her here the very first
week after they came to Upton, and she sat in that very chair you're set
on, Mrs. Brown, and I thought her the prettiest picture I'd seen for
many a year; and so did he, I'm sure.
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