Submissive in word and manner, as was the rule of the day, she was by no means submissive in mind, and had her mother's ears been sharper she might have detected the undertone of irony in the reply she received.
"I think nobody would take you for a citizen's wife, ma'am.

As for me, I am not made to shine in a higher sphere than mine own.

I have not even the patience to learn the spinnet.

I would sooner be baking pies with Rebecca next door, as we used to do when we were children, before father grew so rich." Madam's face clouded ominously.

She heartily wished she had never admitted her children to intimacy with the Harmers next door.