Realising that the young widow was by birth and
breeding above the station of housemaid, Mrs Connor and the servants
had expected her to treat them with the same lofty airs which the
Baroness made familiar to her servants. When, instead, Berene
toasted the bread for Mrs Connor, and poured the coffee and placed it
on the kitchen table with her own hands, the heart of the wash-lady
melted in her ample breast. When the heart of the daughter of Erin
melts, it permeates her whole being; and Mrs Connor became a secret
devotee at the shrine of Miss Dumont.
She had never entertained cordial feelings toward the Baroness. When
a society lady--especially a titled one--enters into competition with
working people, and yet refuses to associate with them, it always
incites their enmity. The working population of Beryngford, from the
highest to the lowest grades, felt a sense of resentment toward the
Baroness, who in her capacity of landlady still maintained the airs
of a grand dame, and succeeded in keeping her footing with some of
the most fashionable people in the town.
Added to these causes of dislike, the Baroness was, like many
wealthier people, excessively close in her dealings with working
folk, haggling over a few cents or a few moments of wasted time,
while she was generosity itself in association with her equals.
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