{"product_id":"2940011947230","title":"THE MIMIC - a tale","description":"an excerpt from the beginning of:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMR. AND MRS. MONTAGUE spent the summer of the year 1795 at Clifton, with their son Frederick, and their two daughters, Sophia and Marianne. They had taken much care of the education of their children; nor were they ever tempted by any motive of personal convenience or temporary amusement to hazard the permanent happiness of their pupils.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSensible of the extreme importance of early impressions, and of the powerful influence of external circumstances in forming the character and the manners, they were now anxious that the variety of new ideas and new objects which would strike the minds of their children should appear in a just point of view.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\" Let children see and judge for themselves,\" is often inconsiderately said. Where children see only a part, they cannot judge of the whole; and, from the superficial view which they can have in short visits and desultory conversation, they can form only a false estimate of the objects of human happiness, a false notion of the nature of society, and false opinions of characters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the above reasons, Mr. and Mrs. Montague were particularly cautious in the choice of their acquaintance; as they were well aware, that whatever passed in conversation before their children became part of their education.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen they came to Clifton, they wished to have a house entirely to themselves; but as they came late in the season, almost all the lodging-houses were full, and for a few weeks they were obliged to remain in a house where some of the apartments were already occupied.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the first fortnight they scarcely saw or heard anything of one of the families who lodged on the same floor with them. An elderly quaker, and his sister Bertha, were their silent neighbours. The blooming complexion of the lady had indeed attracted the attention of the children, as they caught a glimpse of her face, when she was getting into her carriage, to go out upon the Downs. They could scarcely believe that she came to the Wells on account of her health.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBesides her blooming complexion, the delicate white of her garments had struck them with admiration; and they observed that her brother carefully guarded her dress from the wheel of the carriage as he handed her in. From this circumstance, and from the benevolent countenance of the old gentleman, they concluded that he was very fond of his sister, and that they were certainly very happy, except that they never spoke, and could be seen only for a moment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNot so the maiden lady who occupied the ground floor. On the stairs, in the passages, at her window, she was continually visible; and she appeared to possess the art of being present in all these places at once. Her voice was eternally to be heard, and it was not particularly melodious. The very first day she met Mrs. Montague's children on the stairs, she stopped to tell Marianne that she was a charming dear! and a charming little dear! to kiss her, to inquire her name, and to inform her that her own name was \"Mrs. Theresa Tattle;\" a circumstance of which there was little danger of their long remaining in ignorance; for, in the course of one morning, at least twenty single and as many double raps at the door were succeeded by vociferations of \" Mrs. Theresa Tattle's servant!\"—\" Mrs. Theresa Tattle at home!\"—\"Mrs. Theresa Tattle not at home!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo person at the Wells was oftener at home and abroad than Mrs. Tattle! She had, as she deemed it, the happiness to have a most extensive acquaintance residing at Clifton. She had for years kept a register of arrivals. She regularly consulted the subscriptions to the circulating libraries, and the lists at the Ball and the Pump-rooms; so that, with a memory unencumbered with literature, and free from all domestic cares, she contrived to retain a most astonishing and correct list of births, deaths, and marriages, together with all the anecdotes, amusing, instructive, or scandalous, 'which arc necessary to the conversation of a water-drinking place, and essential to the character of a \" very pleasant woman.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\" A very pleasant woman,\" Mrs. Tattle was usually called; and, conscious of her accomplishments, she was eager to introduce herself to the acquaintance of her new neighbours; having, with her ordinary expedition, collected from their servants, by means of her own, all that could be known, or rather all that could be told, about them. The name of Montague, at all events, she knew was a good name, and justified her courting the acquaintance. She courted it first by nods and becks and smiles at Marianne whenever she met her; and Marianne, who was a very little girl, began presently to nod and smile in return; persuaded that a lady who smiled so much could not be ill-natured. Besides, Mrs. Theresa's parlour-door was sometimes left more than half-open, to afford a view of a green parrot. Marianne sometimes passed very slowly by this door. One morning it was left quite wide open, when she stopped to","brand":"Leila's Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152295674096,"sku":"2940011947230","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940011947230_p0.jpg?v=1763551653","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940011947230","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}