upon his stage, so did Miss Grantly with sacred fervor ask her mother's aid, and then prepare her list of all those articles of under-clothing which must be the substratum for the visible magnificence of her trousseau.
Money was no object. We all know what that means; and frequently understand, when the words are used, that a blaze of splendor is to be attained at the cheapest possible price. But, in this instance, money was no object—such an amount of money, at least, as could by any possibility be spent on a lady's clothes, independently of her jewels. With reference to diamonds and such like, the archdeacon at once declared his intention of taking the matter into his own hands—except in so far as Lord Dumbello, or the Hartletop interest, might be pleased to participate in the selection. Nor was Mrs. Grantly sorry for such a decision. She was not an imprudent woman, and would have dreaded the responsibility of trusting herself on such an occasion among the dangerous temptations of a jeweler's shop. But as far as silks and satins went—in the matter of French bonnets, muslins, velvets, hats, riding-habits, artificial flowers, head-gilding, curious nettings, enameled buckles, golden-tagged bobbins, and mechanical petticoats—as regarded shoes, and gloves, and corsets, and stockings, and linen, and flannel, and calico—money, I may conscientiously assert, was no object. And, under these circumstances, Griselda Grantly went to work with a solemn industry and a steady perseverance that was beyond all praise.
"I hope she will be happy," Mrs. Arabin said to her sister, as the two were sitting together in the dean's drawing-room.
"Oh yes, I think she will. Why should she not?" said the mother.
"Oh no, I know of no reason. But she is going up into a station so much above her own in the eyes of the world that one can not but feel anxious for her."
"I should feel much more anxious if she were going to marry a poor man," said Mrs. Grantly. "It has always seemed to me that Griselda was fitted for a high position; that nature intended her for rank and state. You see that she is not a bit elated. She takes it all as if it were her own by right. I do not think that there is any danger that her head will be turned, if you mean that."
