'I should be somewhat ashamed of myself, Clara,'returned Miss Murdstone, 'if I could not understand the boy, or any boy. I don't profess to be profound; but I do lay claim to common sense.'
'No doubt, my dear Jane,' returned my mother, 'your understanding is very vigorous—'
'Oh dear, no! Pray don't say that, Clara,' interposed Miss Murdstone, angrily.
'But I am sure it is,' resumed my mother; 'and everybody knows it is. I profit so much by it myself,in many ways—at least I ought to—that no one can be more convinced of it than myself; and therefore I speak with great diffidence, my dear Jane, I assure you.'