26/34 I will not sit here, and hear such comparisons made.' With that she stalked out, and made the door bang after her. In short, I was not a favourite there with anybody, not even with myself; for those who did like me could not show it, and those who did not, showed it so plainly that I had a sensitive consciousness of always appearing constrained, boorish, and dull. If I came into the room where they were, and they were talking together and my mother seemed cheerful, an anxious cloud would steal over her face from the moment of my entrance. If Mr.Murdstone were in his best humour, I checked him. If Miss Murdstone were in her worst, I intensified it. |