I feel as if I ought to write it very small,
her judgement in this matter was by no means infallible; it was
liable to confusions and embarrassments. Her great indulgence of it
was really the desire of a rather inarticulate nature to manifest
itself; she sought to be eloquent in her garments, and to make up for
her diffidence of speech by a fine frankness of costume. But if she
expressed herself in her clothes it is certain that people were not
to blame for not thinking her a witty person. It must be added that
though she had the expectation of a fortune--Dr. Sloper for a long
time had been making twenty thousand dollars a year by his
profession, and laying aside the half of it--the amount of money at
her disposal was not greater than the allowance made to many poorer
girls. In those days in New York there were still a few altar-fires
flickering in the temple of Republican simplicity, and Dr. Sloper
would have been glad to see his daughter present herself, with a
classic grace, as a priestess of this mild faith. It made him fairly
grimace, in private, to think that a child of his should be both ugly
and overdressed. For himself, he was fond of the good things of
life, and he made a considerable use of them; but he had a dread of
vulgarity, and even a theory that it was increasing in the society
that surrounded him. Moreover, the standard of luxury in the United
States thirty years ago was carried by no means so high as at
present, and Catherine's clever father took the old-fashioned view of
the education of young persons.
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