III + 

“Till Another Young Man Came” + 

The Bishop of Rochester sat in his palace, and over against him sat Mrs. Dribble, his second wife. No more powerful lady ever assisted to carry a crozier. + 

Lord Thomas quaffed his ruby wines in a West-End mansion, and Lady Thomas, the daughter of a marquis, counted the corks. + 

But Mary Tomkins still made the gravies and eked out the butter in Finsbury Square. Did no soft regrets mar the quiescence of her life? Perhaps a few soft regrets did mar the quiecence of her life. + 

But her aunt observed that, during all her leisure hours, she applied herself with unaccustomed diligence to her needle. At last she brought forth from her closet a coarse and somewhat thick chamber-gown or morning wrapper. Its color was gray, and ’twas made of serge; but up and down the collar and round the waist, and in and out of the plaits a curious device had been worked. The letters were not easy to decipher, but when they were read they ran as follows:⁠— + 

“Old Maid.” + 

“And will you wear it?” asked her astonished aunt. + 

“Indeed I will,” said Mary. “Forever and ever, forever and ever.” + 

And she wore it⁠—till another young man came that way. + 