"It is absurd in the directors, or whoever has to do with it, to send
Horace off to the Northwest, just at the commencement of the season too;
besides, we shall scarcely be settled before we shall have to return to
England. I declare we are being treated shamefully," said Mrs. Barton,
as she stepped from the Chuppaul Ghat to the Budgerow that was to convey
them to the steamer, in which a passage had been provided by the
Government for them, to the nearest port on the coast of Goozeratte, _en
route_ for Goolampore, "and to think," again resumed the little lady to
Edith, as they sat together in the handsomely furnished cabin, "that
your brilliant prospects will be destroyed; for who is there in the
interior that will compensate for the loss of those eligible suitors for
your hand?" Edith disclaimed against brilliant alliances or the admirers
referred to.

"It is all very fine, my dear, for you to say so; but depend upon it,
for a young lady in your position and circumstances, there is nothing
equal to a wealthy husband, and an establishment of your own. But what I
shall do without you I really do not know; but I expect it must come to
that some day or other." Here the good lady sank back among her
cushions, and resigned herself to her fate, her Ayah, and her last new
novel.

For several months all went pleasantly enough with the Bartons, much
more so, indeed than had been anticipated by her little ladyship; for
she found that as wife of the judge, the highest civil functionary in
the station, she was leader of fashion, and took precedence of all other
ladies in Goolampore; and Edith, for a time, found herself relieved from
the importunities that beset her at Calcutta. Not that she lacked
admirers, but certainly at present their attentions were not
sufficiently marked to give her any annoyance.