to the care of a brother of their father, of whom
Mrs. Grant knew nothing, she had scarcely seen them since.
In their uncle's house they had found a kind home.
Admiral and Mrs. Crawford, though agreeing in nothing else,
were united in affection for these children, or, at least,
were no farther adverse in their feelings than that each
had their favourite, to whom they showed the greatest
fondness of the two. The Admiral delighted in the boy,
Mrs. Crawford doted on the girl; and it was the lady's
death which now obliged her _protegee_, after some months'
further trial at her uncle's house, to find another home.
Admiral Crawford was a man of vicious conduct, who chose,
instead of retaining his niece, to bring his mistress
under his own roof; and to this Mrs. Grant was indebted
for her sister's proposal of coming to her, a measure quite
as welcome on one side as it could be expedient on the other;
for Mrs. Grant, having by this time run through the usual
resources of ladies residing in the country without a
family of children--having more than filled her favourite
sitting-room with pretty furniture, and made a choice
collection of plants and poultry--was very much in want
of some variety at home. The arrival, therefore, of a sister
whom she had always loved, and now hoped to retain with
her as long as she remained single, was highly agreeable;
and her chief anxiety was lest Mansfield should not satisfy
the habits of a young woman who had been mostly used
to London.

Miss Crawford was not entirely free from similar
apprehensions, though they arose principally from doubts