When Jane Melville told her cousin that her uncle had been always kind
and always reasonable, she expressed her own opinion, for she had loved
and honoured him so much that she felt no hardship in doing everything
he wished; but no one else in the house or in the neighbourhood would
have endorsed that opinion. When the rumour spread far and wide that he
had disinherited his nieces, in the expectation that the education he
had given them would enable them to provide handsomely for themselves,
the servants and workpeople about shook their heads, and said it was
"aye weel kenned that the auld laird had a bee in his bonnet;" while
the class with whom Mr. Hogarth associated on more equal terms
declared; that this last eccentricity of affection (for it was all done
out of pure love), surpassed all his other oddities with regard to the
girls, which had long been the talk of the whole country.

They had, as Jane sadly confessed, made but few friends. Their uncle's
reasonable prejudices extended to morning visits, which he called a
frivolous waste of time; and he had a similar dislike to evening
parties; not on account of a puritanic disapproval of dancing, or of
young people of different sexes meeting and having opportunities of
getting acquainted with each other, but the hours were so irrational,
and the conventional dress so unbecoming and dangerous to health, that
he had prohibited Jane and Elsie from accepting the invitations that
were showered on them when they had given up lessons and were supposed
to be ready to come out. If people would meet at six, and break up
before twelve, and wear dresses fashioned like their ordinary attire,
Mr. Hogarth saw no objection to evening parties. He had invited
the neighbours to such a party, and mentioned in his note of invitation
the conditions on which it was to be attended. A good many had
accepted, partly from curiosity, and partly from a wish to be friendly;