Cranford

being called Miss Matty when Miss Jenkyns was not by) wrote nice, kind,
rambling letters, now and then venturing into an opinion of her own; but
suddenly pulling herself up, and either begging me not to name what she
had said, as Deborah thought differently, and she knew, or else
putting in a postscript to the effect that, since writing the above, she
had been talking over the subject with Deborah, and was quite convinced
that, etc.—(here probably followed a recantation of every opinion she
had given in the letter). Then came Miss Jenkyns—Debōrah, as she liked
Miss Matty to call her, her father having once said that the Hebrew name
ought to be so pronounced. I secretly think she took the Hebrew
prophetess for a model in character; and, indeed, she was not unlike the
stern prophetess in some ways, making allowance, of course, for modern
customs and difference in dress. Miss Jenkyns wore a cravat, and a
little bonnet like a jockey-cap, and altogether had the appearance of a
strong-minded woman; although she would have despised the modern idea of
women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior.
But to return to her letters. Everything in them was stately and grand,