Now a childless widow, without ties and moderately rich, she was free to devote herself to her ideas.

In former days she would have been a religious bigot of the first water; the bigotry was still there; only the subjects of it were changed.
Lady Niton delighted in attacking her; yet was not without a certain respect for her.

Old sceptic that she was, ideals of any sort imposed upon her.

How people came by them, she herself could never imagine.
On this particular morning, however, Mrs.Fotheringham did not allow herself as long a wrangle as usual with her old adversary.

She went off, carrying an armful of letters with large enclosures, and Lady Niton understood that for the rest of the morning she would be as much absorbed by her correspondence--mostly on public questions--as the Leader of the Opposition himself, to whom the library was sacredly given up.
"When that woman takes a dislike," she thought to herself, "it sticks! She has taken a dislike to the Mallory girl.