comœdic

— She was used to say that she would never re‐marry, because she desired to devote herself to her step‐daughter, but, as gossip had it at Tunbridge, she was soon to be deprived of this subterfuge ; for Miss Allonby had reached her twentieth year, and was nowadays rarely seen in public save in the company of Mr. Erwyn, who, it was generally conceded, stood high in the girl’s favor and was desirous of rounding off his career as a leader of fashion with the approved comœdic dénouement of marriage with a young heiress.