flow of philanthropic enthusiasm. She
shared his faith in human nature and the triumph of right ideas; but
once or twice she had feared he was underrating the power of
conservative forces; that he had been away from Clarendon so long as
to lose the perspective of actual conditions, and that he was
cherishing expectations which might be disappointed. Should this ever
prove true, his disillusion might be as far-reaching and as sudden as
his enthusiasm. Then, if he had not loved her for herself, she might
be very unhappy. She would have rejoiced to bring him youth and
beauty, and the things for which other women were preferred; she would
have loved to be the perfect mate, one in heart, mind, soul and body,
with the man with whom she was to share the journey of life.

But this was a passing thought, born of weakness and self-distrust,
and she brushed it away with the tear that had come with it, and
smiled at its absurdity. Her youth was past; with nothing to expect
but an old age filled with the small expedients of genteel poverty,
there had opened up to her, suddenly and unexpectedly, a great avenue
for happiness and usefulness. It was foolish, with so much to be
grateful for, to sigh for the unattainable. His love must be all the
stronger since it took no thought of things which others would have
found of controlling importance. In choosing her to share his
intellectual life he had paid her a higher compliment than had he
praised the glow of her cheek or the contour of her throat. In
confiding Phil to her care he had given her a sacred trust and
confidence, for she knew how much he loved the child.

_Twenty-one_

The colonel's schemes for the improvement of Clarendon went forward,
with occasional setbacks. Several kilns of brick turned out badly, so
that the brickyard fell behind with its orders, thus delaying the work
a few weeks. The foundations of the old cotton mill had been
substantially laid, and could be used, so far as their position
permitted for the new walls. When the bricks were ready, a gang of
masons was put to work. White men and coloured were employed, under a
white foreman. So great was the demand for labour and so stimulating
the colonel's liberal wage, that even the drowsy Negroes around the
market house were all at work, and the pigs who had slept near them
were obliged to bestir themselves to keep from being run over by the
wagons that were hauling brick and lime and lumber through the
str