Mrs.Goddard became a regular institution, and ceased to astonish the inhabitants.

Mr.Thomas Reid, the sexton, was heard to remark from time to time that he "didn't hold with th'm newfangle fashins in dress;" but he was a regular old conservative, and most people agreed with Mr.Abraham Boosey of the Duke's Head, who had often been to London, and who said she did "look just A one, slap up, she did!" Mrs.Goddard became an institution, and in the course of the first year of her residence in the cottage it came to be expected that she should dine at the vicarage at least once a week; and once a week, also, Mr.and Mrs.Ambrose went up and had tea with her and little Eleanor at the cottage.

It came to pass also that Mrs.Goddard heard a vast deal of talk about John Short and his successes at Trinity, and she actually developed a lively interest in his career, and asked for news of him almost as eagerly as though he had been already a friend of her own.

In very quiet places people easily get into the sympathetic habit of regarding their neighbours' interests as very closely allied to their own.

The constant talk about John Short, the vicar's sanguine hopes for his brilliant future, and Mrs.Ambrose's unlimited praise of his moral qualities, repeated day by day and week by week produced a vivid impression on Mrs.
Goddard's mind.