I have an idea she is a schoolmistress taking a holiday, for which her scholars have made up a purse.
"Four Meetings"
Henry James
Mrs. Billickin was very plain in her hints about the poor board supplied to Rosa at Miss Twinkleton's when she received the schoolmistress in her own home.
"Dickens As an Educator"
James L. (James Laughlin) Hughes
"Oh, Miss Twettenham," exclaimed the girl, hurrying to take the extended hands of the schoolmistress, but to find herself pressed to the old lady's heart, an embrace which she received in turn from Miss Julia and Miss Maria.
"One Maid's Mischief"
George Manville Fenn