However, I do not suppose that either of them will ask my
consent; nor is it probable that Lady Lufton will do so." And then
they went on for perhaps a quarter of a mile without speaking.
"Poor Puck!" at last Lucy said. "He shan't be whipped any more, shall
he, because Miss Grantly looks like a statue? And, Fanny, don't tell
Mark to put me into a lunatic asylum. I also know a hawk from a
heron, and that's why I don't like to see such a very unfitting
marriage." There was then nothing more said on the subject, and in
two minutes they arrived at the house of the Hogglestock clergyman.
Mrs. Crawley had brought two children with her when she came from the
Cornish curacy to Hogglestock, and two other babies had been added to
her cares since then. One of these was now ill with croup, and it was
with the object of offering to the mother some comfort and solace,
that the present visit was made. The two ladies got down from their
carriage, having obtained the services of a boy to hold Puck, and
soon found themselves in Mrs. Crawley's single sitting-room. She was
sitting there with her foot on the board of a child's cradle, rocking
it, while an infant about three months old was lying in her lap. For
the elder one, who was the sufferer, had in her illness usurped the
baby's place.
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