so guilty,
that she began to be sure it would be very wrong to have a fringe.
Should she give it up? It was a relief when Mrs Wishing, leaving the
subject of the picture for one of nearer interest, proceeded to dwell on
Dan'l and his failings, so that Lilac was not referred to again. This
well-worn topic lasted for the rest of the visit, for Dan'l had been
worse than usual. He had "got the neck of the bottle", as Mrs Wishing
expressed it, and had been in a hopeless state during the last week.
Her sad monotonous voice went grinding on over the old story, while
Lilac, washing up the tea things, carried on her own little fears, and
hopes, and wishes in her own mind. No one watching her would have
guessed what those wishes were: she looked so trim and neat, and handled
the china as deftly as though she had no other thought than to do her
work well. And yet the inside did not quite match this proper outside,
for her whole soul was occupied with a beautiful vision--herself with a
fringe like Agnetta! It proved so engrossing that she hardly noticed
Mrs Wishing's departure, and when her mother spoke she looked up
startled.

"Yon's a poor creetur as never could stand alone and never will," she
said. "It was the same when she was a gal--always hangin' on to
someone, always wantin' someone else to do for her, and think for her.
Well! empty sacks won't never stand upright, and it's no good tryin' to
make 'em."

Lilac made no reply, and Mrs White, seizing the opportunity of
impressing a useful lesson, continued:

"Lor'! it seems only the other day as Hepzibah was married to Daniel
Wishing. A pretty gal she was, with clinging, coaxing ways, like the
suckles in the hedge, and everyone she come near was ready to give her a
helping hand. And at the wedding they all said, `There, now, she's got
the right man, Hepzibah has. A strong, steady feller, and a good
workman an' all, and one as'll look after her an' treat her kind.' But
I mind what I said to Mrs Pinhorn on that very day: `I hope it may be
so,' I says, `but it takes an angel, and not a man, to bear with a woman
as weak an' shiftless as Hepzibah, and not lose his temper.' And now
look at 'em! There's Dan'l taken to drink, and when he's out of himself
he'll lift his hand to her, and they're both of 'em miserable. It does
a deal o' harm for a woman to be weak like that. She can't stand alone,
and she just pulls a man down along with her."

The troubles of the Wis