"Poor child!" said Edith. "It is a little sad for you to be left, night after night, just at this time when all the world is so gay. But we shall be having our dinner-parties soon--as soon as Henry comes back from circuit--and then there will be a little pleasant variety for you. No wonder it is moped, poor darling!"
Margaret did not feel as if the dinner-parties would be a panacea. But Edith piqued herself on her dinner-parties; "so different," as she said, "from the old dowager dinners under mamma's rgime;" and Mrs. Shaw herself seemed to take exactly the same kind of pleasure in the very different arrangements and circle of acquaintances which were to Captain and Mrs. Lennox's taste, as she did in the more formal and ponderous entertainments which she herself used to give. Captain Lennox was always extremely kind and brotherly to Margaret. She was really very fond of him, excepting when he was anxiously attentive to Edith's dress and appearance, with a view to her beauty making a sufficient impression on the world. Then all the latent Vashti in Margaret was roused, and she could hardly keep herself from expressing her feelings.

'Poor child!' said Edith. 'It is a little sad for you to be left, night after night, when all the world is so gay. But we shall be having our dinner-parties as soon as Henry comes back from circuit - and then there will be a little pleasant variety for you, poor darling!'
Edith piqued herself on her dinner-parties; and Captain Lennox was always extremely kind and brotherly to Margaret. She was really very fond of him, except when he was anxiously attentive to Edith's dress and appearance, with a view to her beauty making a sufficient impression on the world. Then all the latent Vashti in Margaret was roused, and she could hardly keep herself from expressing her feelings.
