Irwine, Mrs.

The rector's handsome mother and Arthur Donnithorne's godmother; a lively, exacting old lady, who is one of the reasons why the rector cannot afford to marry. "That stately old lady, his mother, a beautiful aged brunette, whose rich-toned complexion is well set off by the complex wrappings of pure white cambric and lace about her head and neck. She is as erect in her comely embonpoint as a statue of Ceres ; and her dark face, with its delicate acquiline nose, firm proud mouth, and small intense black eye, is so keen and sarcastic in its expression that you instinctively substitute a pack of cards for the chessmen and imagine her telling your fortune. The small brown hand with which she is lifting her queen is laden with pearls, diamonds, and turquoises; and a large black veil is very carefully adjusted over the crown of her cap, and falls in sharp contrast on the white folds about her neck . . . she is clearly one of those children of royalty who have never doubted their right divine and never met with any one so absurd as to question it."

<em>Adam Bede</em>

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