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.

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.
