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Mrs. Cadwallader, who kept a lodging-house in Blackfriars in London, was one of those persons who keep their minds in a condition of steady preparation. She expected visitors every morning; she was ready for visitors at all times; she had a great talent for hospitality, and a strong capacity for remark. She had been used to keep order among lodgers who were not always amenable to order; and she had so much tact that she could contrive to maintain her personal authority without needing to appeal to very severe measures.