a fancy of the affectionate girl's

[lena55313]

Hi!
Reading Bleak House by Dickens (Chapter 50), I've come across the abbreviation which I can't understand. Could anyone please tell me what is hidden under 'girl's' in the sentence below? A fancy of the affectionate girl - would be clear to me, but that 's-abbrevation confuses me.
Now although this was such a fancy of the affectionate girl's that I am almost ashamed to mention it, still it might have all the force of a fact when she was really ill.
Thank you in advance.

 

[PaulQ]

Now although this was such a fancy of the affectionate girl's ->

Now although this was one such a fancy from among the affectionate girl's [many] fancies.

This is known as the "double genitive". It is commonest in such phrases as

She is a friend of mine/John's = She is one friend from among my/John's many friends.

 

[The Newt]

If we replaced "the affectionate girl" with a pronoun we would likewise use its possessive form: such a fancy of hers.

In some cases the possessive is more or less optional in contemporary usage: "She's such a fan of Bruce Springsteen / Springsteen's that she's been to two hundred of his concerts."

 

[lena55313]

Thank you! I would never guess.