Too much was at stake, and it is most providential that
things had gone no further, and that your own good sense has
preserved you to adorn a much higher sphere."
"Allen could be made something," said Elvira, "I know, for he told me
he could get himself made a baronet. He always does as I tell him.
Will they be very poor, Lisette?"
"Oh no, my dear, generous child, Mrs. Brownlow was quite as well
provided for as she had any right to expect. You need have no
anxieties on that score."
To Elvira, the change from River Hollow to the Pagoda had been from
rustic to gentle life, and thus this reply sounded plausible enough
to silence a not much awakened compassion, but she still said, "Why
can't I go home? I've nowhere else to go. I could not stay at the
Farm," she added in her usual uncomplimentary style.
"No, my dear, I should not think of it. An establishment must be
formed, but in the meantime, it would be quite beneath you to return
to Mrs. Brownlow, again to become the prey of underground
machinations. Besides, how awkward it would be while the lawsuits
are going on. Impossible! No my dear, you must only return to
Belforest in a triumphal procession. Surely there must be a
competition for my lovely child among more congenial friends.
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