The triumph began. Malone, much chagrined at hearing him pipe up in most superior style, determined to earn distinction too, if possible, and all at once assuming the character of a swain (which character he had endeavoured to enact once or twice before, but in which he had not hitherto met with the success he doubtless opined his merits deserved), approached a sofa on which Miss Helstone was seated, and depositing his great Irish frame near her, tried his hand (or rather tongue) at a fine speech or two, accompanied by grins the most extraordinary and incomprehensible. In the course of his efforts to render himself agreeable, he contrived to possess himself of the two long sofa cushions and a square one; with which, after rolling them about for some time with strange gestures, he managed to erect a sort of barrier between himself and the object of his attentions. Caroline, quite willing that they should be sundered, soon devised an excuse for stepping over to the opposite side of the room, and taking up a position beside Mrs. Sykes, of which good lady she entreated some instruction in a new stitch in ornamental knitting, a favour readily granted; and thus Peter Augustus was thrown out.
Very sullenly did his countenance lower when he saw himself abandoned--left entirely to his own resources, on a large sofa, with the charge of three small cushions on his hands. The fact was, he felt disposed seriously to cultivate acquaintance with Miss Helstone, because he thought, in common with others, that her uncle possessed money, and concluded that, since he had no children, he would probably leave it to his niece. Grard Moore was better instructed on this point: he had seen the neat church that owed its origin to the rector's zeal and cash, and more than once, in his inmost soul, had cursed an expensive caprice which crossed his wishes.
The evening seemed long to one person in that room. Caroline at intervals dropped her knitting on her lap, and gave herself up to a sort of brain-lethargy--closing her eyes and depressing her head--caused by what seemed to her the unmeaning hum around her,--the inharmonious, tasteless rattle of the piano keys, the squeaking and gasping notes of the flute, the laughter and mirth of her uncle, and Hannah, and Mary, she could not tell whence originating, for she heard nothing comic or gleeful in their discourse; and more than all, by the interminable gossip of Mrs. Sykes murmured close at her ear, gossip which rang the changes on four subjects--her own health and that of the various members of her family; the missionary and Jew baskets and their contents; the late meeting at Nunnely, and one which was expected to come off next week at Whinbury.

His triumph began. Malone, chagrined at hearing him pipe up in most superior style, determined to earn distinction too, and approached a sofa on which Miss Helstone was seated. Depositing his great Irish frame near her, he tried a fine speech or two, accompanied by extraordinary and incomprehensible grins. In his efforts to make himself agreeable, he contrived to possess himself of the two long sofa cushions and a square one; with which, after rolling them about for some time, he managed to erect a sort of barrier between himself and the object of his attentions. Caroline soon made an excuse for moving to the opposite side of the room, and sat next to Mrs. Sykes, with whom she began to discuss ornamental knitting; and thus Peter Augustus was thrown out.
Very sullen he looked when he found himself abandoned on a large sofa, with the charge of three small cushions on his hands. He wanted seriously to cultivate acquaintance with Miss Helstone, because he thought that her uncle possessed money which he would probably leave to his niece. (Grard Moore knew better: he had seen the neat church that owed its origin to the rector's zeal and cash, and had cursed the expensive caprice which crossed his wishes.)
The evening seemed long to Caroline. She dropped her knitting on her lap, and gave herself up to a sort of brain-lethargy, caused by the unmeaning hum around her - the rattle of the piano keys, the squeaking and gasping of the flute, her uncle's laughter; and more than all, the interminable gossip of Mrs. Sykes murmured close at her ear.
