Those who did
not know her asked who she was; those who had already made her acquaintance
talked a good deal of the new mistress at the High School, by name Miss
Rodney. In less than a week after her arrival in the town, her opinions
were cited and discussed by Wattleborough ladies. She brought with her the
air of a University; she knew a great number of important people; she had a
quiet decision of speech and manner which was found very impressive in
Wattleborough drawing-rooms. The headmistress spoke of her in high terms,
and the incumbent of St. Luke's, who knew her family, reported that she had
always been remarkably clever.
A stranger in the town, Miss Rodney was recommended to the lodgings of Mrs.
Ducker, a churchwarden's widow; but there she remained only for a week or
two, and it was understood that she left because the rooms 'lacked
character.' Some persons understood this as an imputation on Mrs. Ducker,
and were astonished; others, who caught a glimpse of Miss Rodney's meaning,
thought she must be 'fanciful.' Her final choice of an abode gave general
surprise, for though the street was one of those which Wattleborough
opinion classed as 'respectable,' the house itself, as Miss Rodney might
have learnt from the incumbent of St.
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