September 4.—
My mother I find has
made lady Grimston her confidant in relation
to my affairs; the dear woman never
keeps her mind to herself on any subject.
Lady Grimston highly applauds her conduct
in that business;a nd bestowed a few
civil words on me for my filial duty, intermixed
with an ungrateful comparison
of her own daughter's behaviour. And
she condoled with herself, by saying that
good parents had not always
good children.
She told my mother, that she wished to see
the child (meaning me) happily disposed
of; for that, notwithstanding the prudence
of my behaviour, the world would be apt
to cast reflections on me, on account of the
abruptness with which the match was
broken off, without the true reasons being
known: and my illness, she said, might
be imputed to the disappointment; which
might incline people to suspect the rejection
had been on Mr. Faulkland's side.
What a provoking hint was this, my dear!
it has really alarmed my mother, who depends
much on the judgment of her
friend, and has at the same time so nice
a regard to the honour of her family—I
wish that formal old woman would mind
her own business.
